


Trapped

by CxNxPxS



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: AU, Action, Angst, Dirty Thoughts, Domestic, F/M, Mild Sexual Content, Prison AU, Violent Thoughts, You are surrounded by six gorgeous criminals, You can hear their thoughts all day, what trouble will your cellmates get you into?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2018-08-14 15:41:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 47,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8019658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CxNxPxS/pseuds/CxNxPxS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You have a secret. You can hear people's thoughts. You thought it was a great gift to have until you are accidentally sent to a men's prison and locked in a prison cell with seven dangerous criminals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally a drabble but I decided to turn it into a fan fic due to request. The characterizations of the adultrio and trouble trio will be a little ooc at times. 
> 
> Enjoy!

_Is she an unripe fruit? Should I make her an unripe fruit or should I search for one during lunch? Decisions…Decisions…_

You look over at Hisoka as he tosses his dirty clothes into the washing machine, shivering a little because his thoughts are disturbing. It’s not the first time he’s called you an unripe fruit or another nauseating word that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. You’re not for sure why he classifies you as your favorite food. If he keeps continuing to, you’ll stop eating fruit with your breakfast.

You pick up your bra out of the laundry basket on top of a table in the middle of the laundry room slowly while keeping an eye on Hisoka. He grabs a bottle of laundry detergent off the table and pours it into the washing machine. A blue liquid spills out of the bottle onto his clothes, covering everything inside the drum. You wonder why the magician didn’t measure the amount of detergent he’s supposed to use in the measuring cup attached to the cap.

How strange.

  
“What are they serving for lunch? I’m really hungry and I don’t want to eat that nasty crap they call curry,” Illumi hisses.

  
_Why can’t the chef cook opulent food like my personal chef back home? What a moron. I should kill him for feeding me poor people’s food. I’m a Zoldyck. Zoldyck’s doesn’t eat the same food as the poor._

  
You look over at him and narrow your eyes because he likes to complain about all of the dishes served in the cafeteria. The prison food isn’t as bad as he makes it out to be. It’s quite delicious, colorful, and fills your stomach for hours until it starts screaming at you for more food. The only issue with the food is that the portions are really small. It looks like you’re eating a kid’s meal every time the chef places a plate on your tray.

  
“Tacos or Lasagna,” Feitan answers as he jumps onto the table and sits down. He dangles his feet off the edge and swings them back and forth like a child waiting to receive a present from their mother. “I don’t care what they serve today. I’m willing to eat anything since Hisoka stole my food last night.”

  
_I really hate Hisoka. Maybe I should tear off his nails or slice his throat open when he’s sleeping tonight. No. no…I need to torture him._

  
You almost choke on your spit from Feitan’s thoughts. The small thief doesn’t play around when it comes to thinking of gruesome ways to torture his victims. Thank god he hasn’t thought about torturing you yet. You don’t really say anything to him unless if it’s important.

Keeping a low profile around the dangerous criminals is the best way to survive.

  
_“_ A cup of coffee and lasagna sounds nice,” Chrollo adds.

  
He takes off his shirt, exposing the muscles on his chest and stomach, and tosses it into a washing machine. He proceeds to unzip his pants but stops when he notices you staring at him. You look the other way quickly, hoping he doesn’t say anything to you. The goal is to keep a low profile so that you can survive the next few weeks until your set free from the prison.

  
That’s if your lawyer finds enough evidence to prove your innocence. If not, you’re stuck inside the cell with the six sociopaths for five years. You’re not for sure what their sentences are. It’s possible they are in for life for all of the horrendous crimes they have committed since childhood.

  
_She’s not bad on the eye. Her breasts are nice, she’s beautiful, and I love her hair. I wonder why she’s in an all-male prison instead of a women's prison._ _There’s no way they mistook her as a man. I wonder what it is._

  
So the troupe leader has been checking you out like a horny teenager. It brings music to your ears to hear him compliment your appearance. You didn’t think he had it in him because he’s always reading a book by the nightlight in the cell quietly. You thought he was just a sociopathic book worm. It turns out he’s charming and inquisitive.

  
You blush a little as you pick up your laundry basket and dump the remaining clothes inside into the washing machine. Phinks walks over to you with his arms crossed, grinning hard as if he’s about to pull prank. He leans against the washing machine next to the one you are using. It makes a creaking noise as his body presses against it.

  
“The guard will be coming soon to escort us to the shower room. Did you…did you want to take a shower with me this time?” Phinks asks blushing hard.

  
_I wouldn’t mind bending her over in the shower and hearing her scream my name._ _Wait, I shouldn’t be thinking about her like that. She’s my cellmate. But I haven’t been laid in months. Maybe I’ll jerk off in the shower if she says no to me._

  
You walk away from him to a shelf in the corner of the room to grab some laundry detergent. You clamp your mouth shut as you reach for the detergent because you’re trying not to smile from his thought. The fact that he jerks off in the shower makes you relieved to know he has needs. You thought criminals don't desire sex or pleasure their self because they’re too focused on spilling blood.

  
“The guard will most likely make all of us take a shower under one shower head,” you reply.

  
“Yeah I know that, but um…what I meant to say is…did you want to stand next to me?” Phinks asks, blushing harder until his face is beat red.

  
_What the hell am I doing? Of course she’s going to say no. I sound like a pervert. I’m not a pervert. I want to stare at her breast. Wait, that’s being a pervert. Crap._

  
You clear your throat and ignore his thought. “Actually, I think I might wait here. The other prisoners will steal our clothes if we all leave.”

  
“Yeah…um…yeah I forgot about that,” Phinks mutters.

  
Shalnark puts his hands into his pockets as he walks over to the door. He stands next to it as if he’s expecting someone to open it at any moment. It’s possible he’s waiting for the guard because he’s so eager to take a shower for whatever reason. You doubt that’s what it is. Mostly likely he wants to kill someone like your other cellmates.

  
_Puppets…How many people can I turn into a puppet in this prison? Maybe I’ll start with the girl. She’ll make a great puppet. I could command her too…_

  
Shalnark looks over at you with a bright smile, sending shivers down your spine. What the hell was he going to say? What does he want you to do? It better not be anything sexual.

  
The guard enters the room carrying a gun that looks like it came from the future. It has a tube connected to the back of it with yellow liquid inside. You’re not for sure what the liquid is for. Maybe it coats the bullet before it leaves the barrel or it’s there to give the weapon an aesthetic look.

  
“Get your asses out into the hallway so that I can take you to the shower room,” the guard barks. He looks over at you grinning hard. “You’ll stay here and guard the clothes. I can’t you have running around naked. It might distract the other prisoners.”

  
_It will distract me as well. I’m glad the warden allowed its first female prisoner._

  
What a pervert. Geeze, does every guy in this prison want to see you naked besides some of your cellmates? You understand that you’re the only female but can’t they stop thinking with their dicks whenever they see you?

  
The guard opens up the door and waves for your cellmates to leave the room. After a few minutes he shuts the door and escorts them to the shower room, leaving you alone in the laundry room.

You sigh as you sit down in a chair next to the table, your butt touches a stain on the seat but you don’t care because you want to rest your legs. You think about the potential conversation you’ll have with your lawyer in two days about your trail. Hopefully they found evidence to prove your innocence.


	2. Chapter 2

_This is boring. Why do we have to sit in a circle with other prisoners and talk about our problems to a psychiatrist? It’s pointless and a waste of time. I could be eating lunch right now instead of listening to the other prisoners talk about how boring their lives are. I can’t believe one guy tried to brag about how many people he’s killed. I’ve killed more people than him. He’s an amateur._

You smile a little at Illumi’s thoughts as the other prisoners talk about why they are in prison. It’s hard to focus on their words when the assassin’s thoughts are flooding your mind. The other prisoners have thoughts too but you can choose which thoughts you want to listen to.

You choose Illumi’s thoughts because…well…his thoughts are much more interesting.

The room you sit in is large, as big as a gym at a high school. There is a table in the corner with cups and plates with cookies on top. Chairs are placed in a circle across from the table with a ball in the middle. The psychiatrist says that when a prisoner picks up the ball, it’s their turn to talk. Everyone else has to listen or at least try to listen to each other.

You munch on a cookie as another prisoner picks up the ball in the middle of the room. They hold it in their hand firmly, a little too tight, that their knuckles turn red. For some reason they seem a little anxious yet confident to talk about why they are in prison. It makes you wonder what they are trying to hide.

Maybe you’ll listen to their thoughts instead.

The prisoner holding the ball clears his throat and speaks again. This time the words that roll off his tongue surprise you because they are far from the truth.

“I’m a member in the Phantom Troupe. Yeah that’s right. I’m number four,” they roll up their left sleeve to show everyone the spider tattoo. You notice it doesn’t look the same as Chrollo’s. It’s fake. “I killed the Kurta Clan. Those bastards didn’t see it coming.”

You raise your hand in the air. The prisoner curls his lips and nods his head for you to speak.

 “What did you steal from them?” you ask.

The prisoner squeezes the ball hard. “Listen cunt, I told you that I’m part of the Phantom Troupe. You better be afraid of me or I’m…”

“What did you steal from them?” Phinks asks the same question.

“Why does it matter?” the prisoner hisses.

Feitan snorts. “You’re not from the Phantom Troupe. They don’t brag about the people they’ve killed.”

The prisoner stands up so fast, his chair tips over. The psychiatrist claps her hands to get the prisoner’s attention but he ignores her and stares at Feitan with fire in his eyes.

“Who the hell do you think you are? I told you that I’m a member in the Phantom Troupe!  I’ll kill you for disrespecting the spider!” the prisoner yells.

_I don’t know too much about the Phantom Troupe but I know this guy is lying. Not that I care if he claims to be part of the gang or not but he’s extremely annoying. If he doesn’t shut up, I’m going to kill him._

If Illumi kills the prisoner, you’ll get in trouble. Mostly likely you’ll lose cafeteria privileges and be forced to eat inside your cell. That’s the last place you want to be during your meals because your cellmates eat like pigs. Well, the only person who eats semi decent is Chrollo.

“Sit down right now or I’m going to going to call the guards!” the psychiatrist demands.

The prisoner ignores her and storms over to Feitan, clutching the ball and breathing hard as if he just finished working out at the gym. He throws the ball at the wall hard. It bounces off of it and falls to the floor, rolls for a few seconds and stops.

Feitan grins hard, baring his fangs like a rabid dog and stares into the prisoner’s eyes without fear. He wants the prisoner to make the first move so that he can plunge his hand through his chest. He wants to watch his blood spill across the floor in different directions, creating complex patterns that soothe his frigid heart.

_Would Feitan kill this guy already? He’s really starting to get on my nerves. Dinner is about to start soon and afterward I can wash my hair. I don’t have time for crap._

“Are you going to kill me or kiss me?” Feitan teases him.

The prisoner growls like an angry cat and raises his hand up in the air, preparing to slap Feitan’s face hard.

“Shut the hell up! Shut up! What do you know about the Phantom Troupe? You know nothing!” the prisoner screams.

“You bring shame to the Troupe’s name,” Feitan says coldly before he plunges his hand into the prisoner’s chest.

The prisoner gasps before he falls to the floor. Blood pours out of a hole in his chest rapidly, soaking their uniform and painting the floor crimson. The psychiatrist runs to the door and calls a guard to the room. The rest of the prisoners whisper to another while Feitan smiles from satisfaction.

~*~

“Listen up! Because your cellmate thought it was a great idea to kill another prisoner, you guys just lost your library, cafeteria, lounge, gym, and computer lab privileges. You’re allowed one shower a day so you better not stink up this room,” the guard hisses before they leave the room.

 

Feitan lies on the top bunk reading an art book quietly while Chrollo lies on the bottom bunk reading a novel. You sit on the bottom bunk across from their bunk bed wondering what they will serve for dinner since you can’t eat in the cafeteria for a while.

Usually the food they serve prisoners who lost their cafeteria privileges isn’t the most pleasant thing to eat. It consists of fish, potatoes, corn, and a salad that look like it’s been sitting out for days. The smell is much worse. Some prisoners become extremely ill after they consume it while others get gas

You hope the guard brings food that can be heated up since your cell has a microwave. If you don’t finish all of your food, you can put it into a zip lock bag and place it inside of the mini refrigerator. Hopefully your cellmates don’t have spoiled food or chocolate pudding clogging the shelves.

You look around the small cell to see if there is a place for you to change out of your uniform. The one you are wearing is a little itchy for some reason. You guess you’re having an allergic reaction to the laundry detergent or maybe it’s the fabric softener.

The room looks like a college dorm that’s meant for three or four people.  There’s two bunkbeds that have drawers built into the bottom, a small l-shape couch, a coffee table, a flat screen TV, a mini refrigerator, a desk, a bookcase, a sink, a toilet, and abstract artwork hanging on the wall.

It doesn’t look like a normal prison cell. No. It looks like you’re sharing a dorm room at a college that’s located underneath the ocean. There’s a window right by the mini refrigerator that has a view of the sea life in the ocean.

You notice several fish and other sea creatures you’ve never seen before, scurry past the window as if something is chasing them. It makes you wonder where they are going.

“What are you doing? Did you want us to give you privacy so that you can take a dump?” Illumi asks, startling you out from your thoughts.

“What? No. I want to change out of my uniform,” you say.

“Go change next to the toilet,” Illumi demands in an unpleasant tone.

What the hell is his problem?

You grab a uniform from a drawer underneath the bed. Phinks looks down at you from the top bunk to see what you are doing. His eyes follow your every movement like a hawk tracking its prey.

_She’s grabbing a new uniform. Is she going to use a wet wipe to clean herself since we can only take a shower once a day? Crap, my dick is growing hard from thinking about her naked body. I want to see her clean herself, especially her core. I’m not a pervert. I’m not a pervert. I just want to see her naked._

You’re half attempted to give Phinks what he wants but it wouldn’t be appropriate since the other criminals might get dirty thoughts. Hell, they might get violent thoughts too. Anything is possible with them.

“Can you please close your eyes? I’m going to change out of my uniform,” you ask your cellmates.

_Why? There’s not much to look at anyway._

You ignore Feitan’s thought and change out of your uniform in the corner of the room while keeping an eye on your cellmates. They don’t look your way which is good because you would have punched them in their throat for trying to sneak a peek at your body.

 

_I want to rent another book from the library but we lost our privileges. Maybe I can ask the guard to pick up a few books when I see him later. Let’s hope it’s not the usual guard that stops by. He doesn’t say yes to anything. If it’s the new guard, he might do it._

You’re in the mood to a new read another book just like Chrollo. One personal quality you like about him is that he’s very patient and calm in any situation. He doesn’t care that he’s lost his privileges. He’s more concerned about getting lost in the pages of a good book.

“Maybe I should listen to his thoughts more,” you whisper.

You lie down on the bottom bunk and pull the blanket up to your chin. There’s nothing else to do until the guard shows up with dinner. You decide to take a small nap until dinner arrives.

~*~

“Is she going to eat her dinner?” Phinks asks Chrollo.

Chrollo picks up his peanut butter and jelly sandwich off his plate on the coffee table. He stares at it for a few seconds before he answers.

“Don’t eat her food. I’m sure she’ll wake up soon,” Chrollo replies.

“If she doesn’t wake up, I’m going to eat her food,” Feitan adds.

“Why would you want to eat more of this crap? Why are they feeding us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? I was expecting something delicious like roast beef or curry,” Illumi complains.

Hisoka props his feet up on the coffee table and rest his head against the cushion on the couch. An empty plate with crumbs is on his lap. He doesn’t get up to wash it yet because he thinks about ways he can regain his privileges. He knows of way one but it might not sit well with the others.

He places a dirty napkin on the plate and makes a card appear in his hand.

“You know if we do extra chores we can get our privileges back. I heard they are looking for prisoners who are willing to clean the east building. Maybe we should volunteer for it,” Hisoka suggests.

Phinks frowns. “Why do you want your privileges back? It’s not like you have any friends waiting for you.”

“He’s probably going to search for strong opponents like he usually does. I hope someone kills him,” Feitan says coldly.

Hisoka chuckles again. “Honestly, I want to exercise at the gym and get out of this cell. I don’t like being cramped up in one place for a long time.”

“I wouldn’t mind buying some new shampoo and conditioner at the store,” Illumi pauses and taps his lower lip with his finger.  “Also I could try to see if anyone needs someone assassinated. I really doubt they have enough money to pay me though.”

“They have other things they can give you instead of money,” Shalnark mentions.

Illumi blinks. “What things do they have that would peek my interest? A Zoldyck doesn’t like cheap things.”

“Snacks, drinks, clothes, books, cash cards. You could collect enough cards to buy expensive shampoo and conditioner at the store,” Chrollo says.

“I guess that could work, although I would have to figure out how much jenny is on each card,” Illumi mutters.

Shalnark pats Illumi on his back. “I can find out easily. Leave it to me.”

Feitan places his plate on top of the coffee table. “You can’t steal their cash cards because we were planning on stealing it first. Look for something else.”

Illumi narrows his eyes. “I’m not stealing their cards, I’m taking them.”

“Isn’t that the same thing you idiot?” Phinks hisses.

“Guys, guys, stop arguing. You’re going to wake up our cellmate. It doesn’t matter who takes what. If you do manage to get ahold of a cash card I can find out how much is on it. We can share it since we’re sharing this cell together,” Shalnark says cheerfully.

“I guess…” Phinks groans.

Feitan crosses his arms. “Hisoka, do you know who we need to talk to volunteer?”

“I’m sure if we ask the guard, they’ll allow us to volunteer. I don’t see why they wouldn’t,” Hisoka says making another card appear in his hand.

“I’ll ask the guard when he shows up,” Chrollo says.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this please leave a kudo or comment if you like. :)


	3. Chapter 3

 The east building has many hallways and empty cells that have trash, water, and dead rodents on the floor. The walls have stains on them that look like blood or vomit and there’s a musty smell lingering in the air.

As a guard escorts you to the cafeteria to fill your bucket with water, you hear the sound of something hitting the wall in the distance. You clutch the bucket in your hand and look around the hallway, scanning each empty cell with your eyes to find someone or something hiding in the shadows.

“Did you guys hear that?” A tall prisoner walking in the front asks everyone slightly nervous. He puts his hands into the front pockets on his pants and spits on the floor. “If someone is hiding in one of the cells, I’m going to kill them before anyone else.”

_Sure you will bigshot. I bet you’re going to claim your part of the Phantom Troupe after you kill the moron. In speaking of which, that noise sounds like it came from the shower room that’s next to the cafeteria. It’s a good thing I studied the map to this building with Shalnark before we left._

You eye Phinks and watch him clench and unclench his jaw. He glances over at you and narrows his eyes as if he knows you are listening to his thoughts. You quickly look away from him and pick up your pace to escape his piercing gaze.

A few minutes later you enter the large, dim lit cafeteria. There are tables against the wall with chairs on top. Some of the chairs are broken while the others are covered in a green substance that looks like slime or paint. The guard points to an open door next to the tables. You look through the door and notice a kitchen that has a stainless steel sink next to an old refrigerator that some rust on it.

“Fill your buckets with water inside the kitchen and split up into groups. Some groups will clean the cafeteria while some groups will the cells and the shower room,” the guard says in a deep voice.

Hisoka walks over to you grinning like an idiot, holding his empty bucket out in front of him like a child showing off their new toy. He stops a few inches away from you and chuckles.

“I want to be in a group with you. I think it will be fun,” he looks over at Chrollo, Phinks, Feitan, Illumi, and Shalnark grinning harder, exposing his pearly white teeth. He waves them over but they don’t budge. “Why don’t you convince our cellmates to be in our group?”

“I don’t want to. I was thinking about joining another group,” you lie.

The truth is you don’t want to be in a group with Hisoka. He annoys you as much as the other cellmates. If you could transfer to another cell, you would do it in a heartbeat but the warden claims all of the cells are occupied.

The guard looks over at you and points to the kitchen. “What the hell are you doing? Get your bucket filled with water and form a group! The more time you waste, the longer you will stay here!”

_The longer I stay here, the more my bloodlust will grow. I need to tame it by messing up someone. Maybe I’ll start with the guard or the first prisoner who asks me to join their group. I really need to spill blood right now. The only other way for me to tame my bloodlust is to have sex. I’m not in the mood for a quickie. I want to screw someone hard._

You almost choke on your spit from his thought and try to move away from him blushing a little to a group of prisoners standing near the kitchen door but Hisoka throws a card at your back playfully to get your attention. You spin around to face him extremely irritated.

“Where are you going? We’re partners remember?” Hisoka coos.

“I never agreed to work with you. Stop bothering me,” you hiss as you turn around to walk away from him again but he throws another card at your back playfully.

“I don’t want my precious fruit to join another group. I need to keep my eye on you so that no one else tries to kill you. I want to keep you alive until the time is right…” Hisoka says in a deep tone as he stares at you with bloodlust in his eyes.

You make a uh huh noise as you walk away from him, feeling uncomfortable and annoyed that he still thinks of you as a fruit that he wants to pluck once you ripen. The group of prisoners stops talking as soon as you walk up to them and stare at you with their eyes wide as if you are disease that will infect their immune system. One prisoner snorts out loud as the nudges a prisoner standing next to him in the side.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the whore of the prison. What does it feel like to have six dicks inside of you every night?” the prisoner asks.

The hell did he just say? You clench your fist and bite your lower lip as you try to calm yourself down. This bastard actually thinks your screwing your cellmates every night. What gave him that idea?

_To think that she’s willing to spread her legs for six dumbasses makes me laugh. I bet she gives it up to that red headed bastard easily. He gives me the creeps and I want to smash his face in whenever he opens up his mouth. I bet if I gathered some of the other prisoners, they would help me kill him and the other psychopaths sharing the cell with her. I’ll kill her last._

Does this guy actually think he can kill Hisoka? There’s no way that’s ever going to happen. The prisoner doesn’t realize how strong the magician really is. Whatever rumors his cellmates have been telling him, they aren’t true. He’s going to get himself killed and the people stupid enough to help him.

But why does it matter if the prisoner dies to Hisoka’s hand? It’s not like you have a deep relationship with him. The goal is to stay off the radar until you’re set free from prison; however, if the magician kills the prisoner, your privileges will be revoked for a longer period.

Crap.

You force a smile on your face and cross your arms. The prisoner stares at you with a wide grin, wondering what you are going to say. The other prisoners whisper to each other like high school girls’ gossiping about a classmate that everyone hates.

“I can’t be a whore if I’m in a relationship with all of them,” you say quickly.

You want to punch yourself in the face for telling a horrible, yet disturbing lie to the prisoner. Who in their right mind would ever want to be in a relationship with six deadly criminals who fart, burp, leave a giant mess on the floor, scratch their balls, and argue like children every day? Sometimes you want to fake an injury so that you can go to the doctor’s office and sleep on the bed in the spare room next to it.

The prisoner narrows his eyes. “Are you really in a relationship with them? Or are you just saying that to get me off your back?”

You swallow hard. “I’m not a whore. I’m in a relationship with all them. We’ve been dating for…” you turn around to look at your cellmates and immediately feel nauseous. You place your hand on your stomach and clear your throat before you speak again. “We’ve been dating for at least….six months now.”

“If that’s true, I want you to prove it. I want you to kiss the red head or that ugly guy with the tattoo on his forehead. Afterward, I want you to get your knees and show me that you’re really in a relationship with them,” the prisoner barks.

Okay, you didn’t see that coming. There’s no way you’re going to suck Chrollo or Hisoka’s dick in front of him. That’s out of the question. You rather stab yourself in the stomach than have oral sex with two deadly criminals who stare off into space constantly as if their mind is traveling to another dimension.

Hell no!

Hisoka and Chrollo walk over to you quietly. You want to tell them to go away because their presence will only make things worse. The prisoner might ask them questions about you’re non-existent relationship. If he does that, you’re lie will be revealed because the two criminals will say they have no idea as to what he’s talking about. You don’t feel like thinking of another lie to cover your tracks.

Crap.

But it looks like you might have to create a web of lies in order to make it seem like you’re in a relationship with them. You could tell the prisoner that you’re not sleeping with your cellmates and walk away but something tells you somebody is spreading a nasty rumor about you.

You really thought prison was going to be a hell hole but it turns out it’s nothing more than a high school filled with gossipers and bullies.

“We should fill our buckets up with water so that we can start cleaning. I’ll meet you inside the kitchen,” Chrollo takes a step away from you but stops when the prisoner snaps his fingers.

“You’re not going to give your whore of a girlfriend a goodbye kiss? That doesn’t seem right,” he tries to say with a straight face but ends up laughing hysterically as if he’s high on drugs. “Make sure you don’t kiss her too much she needs energy to kiss the others.”

“What are you talking about? Why would I kiss her for?” Chrollo asks calmly.

The prisoner makes a tsk tsk noise while the other prisoners standing around him make an uh huh noise that pisses you off. You clench your fist, hold in your breath as if you are about to dive underwater, and walk over to Chrollo with your head up high. He opens up his mouth to say something but you interrupt him with a quick kiss and grab his hand to drag him off to the kitchen.

You bring him to an empty closet in the corner of the kitchen that smells like rotten eggs and spoiled meat. There’s mold on the floor and some dust on a table by the door. Chrollo enters the room without asking why you brought him there and looks around as you shut the door quickly, soon regretting that it was a bad thing to do because of the strong odor polluting the air.

“What’s going on? Why did you bring me in here?” Chrollo asks.

“Listen, I told the prisoner that we’re in a relationship so that he would stop thinking that I’m a whore,” you explain.

“Why does he think you’re a whore? Are you having sex with a lot of guys in the prison?”

_She doesn’t seem like the type to sleep around. She doesn’t even look at us in a sexual way inside the cell nor does she purposely undress when we’re awake. She makes sure we’re not looking when she takes a shower or when she uses the toilet. I can’t imagine her prowling after men like a fiend._

You want to tell Chrollo thank you for believing you’re not a whore but if you did that, he would ask how you knew what he was thinking. Instead, you grab his hand and hold it firmly while you stare into his eyes for a few seconds. He stares back at you with his gray eyes, wondering what you’re going to say.

“I need you to do something for me. Until I can find the person responsible for spreading a nasty rumor about me, I would like you to convince the other cellmates to pretend to be my boyfriend. I know I’m asking a lot of you but I really need this lie to work until I sort things out,” you plead.

“Why are you so concerned about the rumor?”

“I’m sorry I can’t tell you right now but I will tell you when the time is right,” you say hoping he’ll stop asking you questions.

You really can’t tell him the real reason why you’re going after the person who’s spreading a rumor about you. It seems childish to request his help over a petty thing but there’s more to the situation. You have to stay off the radar for a few more weeks so that you can leave the prison. If your lawyer finds out that you’ve been causing trouble, they will drop your case or assign you to another lawyer who might dismiss the evidence proving your innocence.

That can’t happen. You have to get out of this prison.

Chrollo makes a humming noise. “I want to think about it and discuss it with our cellmates. We can talk about it back in the cell.”

_What is she hiding? I’ve been meaning to ask her why she was sent to an all-male prison but I haven’t had the opportunity. I could ask her now but she’s not willing to say anything else until I say yes to her little scheme to convince everyone we’re dating. She’s doing a lot to clear up a silly rumor. There has to be more to her story. I want to find out what it is._

“We should get out of this closet and start cleaning before the guard finds us,” Chrollo opens up the door and lets you leave first. He closes the door and grabs your hand, holds it firmly, and whispers into your ear. “Whatever game you’re trying to play it’s not going to work with me. The minute I find out that you’re trying to betray me or the members in the Phantom Troupe, I’ll kill you.”

“I can assure you that won’t happen,” you say confidently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try and finish this fan fic in 20 chapters instead of 12 chapters. 
> 
> Thank you for warm comments and for reading this story! :)

 

 

“She wants all of us to be her boyfriend? What the hell?” Phinks yells.

 “Relax, it’s not like we’re actually dating her,” Feitan says before he takes a bite out of his ham and cheese sandwich.

“Did you agree to it Danchou?” Shalnark asks.

Chrollo sits back against the couch and props his feet up on the coffee table. He remains quiet for a few minutes as he racks his mind for a reason why they should agree to your little scheme. As much as he doesn’t want to do it, he’s really curious about the secret you’re hiding.

“No, I wanted to discuss it with you guys first before I give her an answer. To tell you the truth, I want to find out why she’s in an all-male prison. I find it strange that the warden placed her in our cell,” Chrollo says calmly.

Illumi makes a humming noise as he props his feet up on the coffee table. He’s not for sure if you are hiding a secret but he suspects the warden didn’t put you in their cell on accident.

“If we start asking her personal questions, she won’t open up to us. We have to play it safe,” Illumi advises.

“What’s the real reason why she wants us to be her boyfriend?” Hisoka asks making two cards appear in his hand. He tosses one at the poster on the wall behind the TV that says _Cleanliness Leads to Friendliness_ , puncturing it a little. He watches pieces of the poster fall to the floor with a smug smile on his face.

“She thinks that someone is spreading a nasty rumor about her. Apparently the other prisoners believe she’s sleeping with all of us,” Chrollo says.

Phinks blinks. “We don’t sleep in the same bed as her. In fact, we give her majority of the blankets and pillows so that she feels comfortable. What the hell are they talking about?”

Feitan shakes his head slowly. “The other prisoners think she’s having sex with us. Not sleeping in the same bed as us. Sometimes I swear you’re a virgin.”

Phinks slams his fist down on the coffee table hard. “I’m not a virgin! I’ve had sex with plenty of people. I just wasn’t for sure if you were referring to sex or sleep.”

Shalnark snaps his fingers at Phinks and Feitan to get their attention. “Can you guys talk about that later? We need to decide if we’re going to pretend to be her boyfriend.”

“I’ll do it,” Hisoka answers quickly as he makes two more cards appear in his hand. He tosses a queen of spades on the coffee table grinning hard. “I think this will give us a chance to discover the secret that she’s hiding. Plus I can keep an eye on my unripe fruit.”

“I think I’ll do it too. If she decides to do anything reckless I’ll use one of my antennas on her,” Shalnark pulls out an antenna from his pocket and holds it up in the air for everyone to see. “I only have one antenna but it should do the trick.”

Illumi pulls out a needle from his pocket. “I can get her to tell me her secret by sticking a needle inside her brain.”

“This is starting to sound like a race to see who can get her to reveal her secret first. I’m in if that’s case,” Phinks says excitedly as he cracks his knuckles. “I don’t have any needles or antennas but I can assure you she’ll reveal her to secret to me after our first date.”

“I’m sure I can take her on a better date than you,” Feitan says in a low tone. He jumps off the couch and stretches his arms. “I’m going to join this race. What’s the prize for first place?”

“You get everyone’s desserts for three months,” Shalnark answers in a somewhat cheerful tone.

“Except for my chocolate pudding,” Chrollo stares at Phinks with a serious expression on his face. “You can take Hisoka’s strawberry pudding and Shalnark’s orange pudding but not mine.”

“I’m not a huge fan of chocolate pudding anyway so it doesn’t matter,” Phinks mutters.

Shalnark stands up from the couch and walks over to the toilet in the corner of the room. He unzips his pants and pees inside the toilet while thinking about the perfect place to take you on a date. When it comes to competitions, the cute blonde takes it seriously and will do anything to finish in first place.

“Danchou, you need to decide who will take her out on the first date. We could do rock paper scissors or….”

“See who can get her into bed first,” Phinks blurts out.

Everyone grows very quiet and stare at Phinks with bewilderment in their eyes. Phinks coughs a few times as he tugs on his shirt as if he’s sweating to death and rushes over to the refrigerator to grab a cold bottle of water.

“Is anyone else hot?” Phinks takes off the bottle’s lid and takes a sip while avoiding eye contact with everyone. His cheeks turn red a little. “Um…so…uh…yeah I think Danchou should pick the first person to go on a date with her.”

“You really need to masturbate more often,” Feitan narrows his eyes at Phinks.

Phinks blushes hard. “Shut the hell up!”

“I guess I could buy Phinks a pocket stroker at the store so that he can use it several times a day,” Illumi mutters. He takes out his cash card from his pocket and taps it against his lower lip. “But if I buy him one, I will use most of my money since it cost a lot. I guess I could buy him a porno magazine instead if they sell any.”

“Why are you embarrassed about masturbating? We all do it,” Feitan snorts.

“Can we please talk about something else? I’m not going to tell you guys how many times I masturbate a day,” Phinks tosses the empty bottle into the recycle bin and walks over to the sink. “So..danchou…uh…who’s going first?”

“You’re going first,” Chrollo says.

Feitan snorts again. “Phinks should masturbate before he goes on a date with her.”

“It would be such a shame if got an erection in front of her,” Illumi adds.

Phinks's face turns crimson red. “Shut the hell up!”

~*~

You walk down the hallway with a guard behind you toward the store to buy some pads and tampons since you’re period started. Intensive cramps causes you to stop every once in a while because the pain is unbearable but the guard escorting you doesn’t care. They roll their eyes and mumble underneath their breath that you’re causing a scene on purpose to get attention.

What an ass.

There’s a small line of prisoners standing outside the door holding their cash cards in their hand. One prisoner with a Mohawk and a rabbit tattoo on his neck looks over at you grinning hard. As soon as his eyes make contact with you, his grin disappears and he whispers to a prisoner standing in front of him quickly.

You start to feel uncomfortable, mostly because you’re buying feminine products at a store in an all-male prison. What if the store doesn’t have the right brand of tampons that you usually buy or the pads are too small. You won’t be able to sleep comfortably at night let alone do any chores without worrying an accident might happen.

It doesn’t help that your uniform is a light color which means if an accident happens, everyone would know.

Crap.

“Please let them have the right brand,” you mutter as you stand in line.

The guard pats your shoulder and whispers into your ear. “I’ll be waiting by the door. Get your things and get out quickly without causing any trouble.”

“Shouldn’t you be saying that to the men standing around me since I’m the only female in the prison?” you whisper.

The guard snorts. “Are you serious? Do you really think they want to take you to bed or hurt you because you’re a female? Here’s a little secret. Majority of the men in this prison don’t care about your gender. If you get in their way, they’ll kill you. If you leave them alone, nothing will happen.”

“I’m not going to do anything reckless.”

“That’s good because it would be such a shame if I had to send you to the hole. A beautiful woman like you doesn’t belong in a place like that. In fact, nobody belongs in a place like that but prisoners get sent there if they cause trouble.”

“What’s the hole?” you ask.

The guard grows very quiet as if you just asked them an inappropriate question. They take a step away from you, winking their eye and walk away without saying anything. You start to feel really uncomfortable and slightly nervous because of the guard’s actions.

What’s the hole? Why didn’t they give you information about the place?

The line moves forward a bit and you’re close to entering the store. You watch two prisoners walk up to the check-out counter carrying a basket full of shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, and what appears to be a sex toy but you’re for sure what kind of sex toy it is.

“I didn’t know they sold sex toys in a prison,” you mutter as you take another step forward.

_They better have more shampoo or at least a sex toy I can buy, otherwise I’m going to kill someone. But if I kill someone they’ll send me to the hole. I can’t go there. Once you go to the hole you’ll disappear forever._

You don’t bother looking around the line to see what prisoner is thinking about the hole. Instead, you bite your lower lip and think about what type of place the hole is and why the prisoner is afraid to go there. Maybe if you get yourself into trouble, the guards will take you there and you will be able to investigate the place without your obnoxious cellmates bothering you.

Wait, you can’t do that. The goal is to stay off the radar until your set free but at the same time you’ve been a little bored since coming to the prison. You want to do something bold, foolish, and downright insane to pass time until you hear back from your lawyer.

Maybe it’s time you get yourself into trouble with your cellmates.

No.

No.

Hell no.

Who knows what type of trouble they’ll get into if you told them that you want to investigate a place called the hole that may or may not exist? Hisoka would find any reason to slaughter the prisoners without batting an eye while Chrollo would steal items out of the prison cells with Phinks, Feitan, and Shalnark. Illumi, on the other hand, would turn some prisoners, maybe everyone, into his puppet.

God no! You can’t tell them anything.

_Ah, there she is! I was wondering where she went off to. I hope she doesn’t mind if I stand next to her in line. I have to persuade her to go on a date with me since I’m in a competition with the others to see who can get her to reveal her secret first. I’m going to win this._

You stop biting your lower lip as soon as you hear Phink’s thought. Apparently, they turned your request into a competition because they are nosy and want to know why you’re in an all-male prison.

Why are they so nosy? You don’t ask them why they’re in a maximum security prison that’s located deep underneath the ocean. You don’t even try to have a conversation with them because they drive you insane.

“I’ve been looking all over for you. I need to talk to you about something. Are you heading back to the cell after your finished here?” Phinks asks as he walks over to you.

Some of the prisoners stop talking and stare at you with their eyes wide as if they just saw a ghost. You groan little as you push past some prisoners without saying sorry and enter the store. An employee standing by the door hands you a small basket, frowning hard because they saw you cut in front of the other prisoners.

“Hey, I’m talking to you,” Phinks pushes past some prisoners and enters the store. The employee standing by the door tries to give him a basket but he doesn’t take it and follows you to a large shelf in the back that has shampoo and conditioner on it. “I know you heard me. I want to talk to you about something.”

“What do you want? I’m busy right now,” you avoid eye contact with him as you look for a box of tampons and pads at the bottom of the shelf, below the shampoo and conditioner.

Phinks grabs a bottle of shampoo and tosses it into your basket as if he’s shopping with you. You want to throw the bottle on the floor but don’t want to cause a scene or get into trouble.

Wait. Wait. Wait.

You do want to get into trouble. Yes. The guard will take you to the hole and you’ll be far away from your annoying cellmates. Plus you might be able to find someone who has information about the person who’s spreading a rumor about you.

You decide to ditch your original plan to have your cellmates pretend to be your boyfriend. It wasn’t a good idea in the first place. You prefer to find the person spreading a nasty rumor about you alone without anyone’s help. Going to the hole is the first step in finding them because you’re bound to find someone who’s been down there for months whose heard rumors.

Now that you have decided that you want to go to the hole, the next step is getting into trouble. You decide to start a fight with Phinks. Or at least attempt to piss him off.

 “So, I want to tal….” Phinks begins to say but stops when you throw the basket on the ground and charge at him with your arms out in front of you. You attempt to tackle him to the floor but he doesn’t move an inch. He places his hands on your shoulders and gently pushes you away. “What are you doing?”

The employee behind the counter rushes over to you waving their arms in the air frantically. Just as they pull you away from Phinks, some guards run into the store aiming their guns at everyone with their fingers on the trigger.

“What the hell is going on?!” one of the guards yells.

The employee wraps their arms around your body and drags you over to the guards breathing hard as if they just ran a marathon. Some prisoners stare at you while others whisper into each other’s ear like freaking children. You want to kick them in their manhood to make the situation worse so that they will drag you off to the hole immediately.

“I thought I told you to not get into trouble!” the guard that had escorted you to the store hisses as they take out their handcuffs and place them on your wrists. They shake their head slowly. “You just got your cellmates into even more trouble since you can’t seem to follow orders.”

“Take me to the hole!” you scream.

The guard shakes his head slowly again. “Oh no, you’re not going to the hole alone. You’re cellmates will be going with you.”

Crap.

It looks like your plan failed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like. :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I have a small break from graduate school I will be updating more chapters within the next few weeks. I added a picture to this chapter with permission from the artist. It's drawn by tumblr user sexyclowndaddy.
> 
> Enjoy!

_“Illumi, come over here and look at your new baby brother,” Kikyo says in a sweet tone. He walks over to the bed and looks down at a baby with white hair like his father in his mother’s arms. His mother places her hand on the baby’s stomach gently before speaking again. “Say hello to your new brother. His name is Killua.”_

_“Kil…Killua,” Illumi utters as he stares into the baby’s bright blue eyes. “He has white hair like father.”_

_Kikyo nods her head. “He’ll be the Zoldyck heir.”_

_“I thought I was the Zoldyck heir,” Illumi replies quickly._

_Kikyo narrows her eyes at Illumi. “Killua will be the Zoldyck heir. We’re not discussing this anymore.”_

_Illumi stares at Kikyo for a few seconds before he leaves the bedroom without saying anything else. If he could feel anger or any emotion to express how disappointed he is that he’s no longer the Zoldyck heir, he would do it in that moment._

_He wouldn’t scream or throw things like a spoiled child wanting to get their way._

_No._

_He would manipulate his mother into making him the Zoldyck heir once again so that he can take control of the family business. It means a lot to him even though he doesn’t talk about it with his parents. He chooses to focus on his assassin training everyday so that he can be a strong, powerful leader._

_Silva walks up to Illumi in the hallway with his arms crossed. His white hair looks like it’s glowing from the light on the ceiling, making him look angelic. He leans forward a little bit and bares his white teeth like a vicious dog preparing to bite a stranger._

_“Illumi, you will help me raise Killua starting today,” Silva says in a booming voice that doesn’t startle Illumi._

_Illumi doesn’t want to help his father raise Killua but he can’t tell him no. His family affairs are more important than his well-being. It’s been like that since he was born and it will continue to be like that until he rebels._

_~*~_

You open up your eyes quickly as soon as you hear a loud screeching noise that sounds like someone is dragging their fingernails across a chalkboard. The noise sends shivers down your spine and makes your teeth chatter a little. You absolutely hate the noise and want it to stop.

Thinking that you are sitting on a chair inside of a small dark prison cell, you stand up to walk to the door but end up tripping over someone’s leg, landing face first onto the floor. Luckily, your face lands on something soft that feels silky against your skin. You place your fingers on it and gasp when you realize it’s a pillow.

“Good morning,” a low voice says opening up the curtains on a window across from you. The sun’s bright light shines through the window and kisses your face.  “Did you sleep well?”

You clear your throat. “Whe…Where am I? I thought I was in the hole?”

The person walks over to you and helps you to your feet. The smell of raspberries drifts from their clothes, filling your noise with a pleasant aroma. You stare at the person for a few moments and notice they are wearing a black baseball hat, a black short sleeve shirt, blue jeans, and brown hiking boots on their feet. Their skin is dark and their eyes are the color of blood. Something about their appearance rubs you the wrong way but you choose to ignore it.

The person bows elegantly. “Welcome to the hole. My name is Tac. I am your tour guide on this ever so exciting journey to the end of the maze. Any choice that you make will affect your cellmates. Any dream or nightmare that you have, your cellmates will see it. If you have any questions, please ask me.”

You blink. “Wait, what do you mean my choices will affect my cellmates? Why would I have the same dream as my cellm…” you stop talking when you remember that you had a dreamed about Illumi meeting his baby brother for the first time. “I’m confused, why would I have the same dream as my cellmates?”

Tac grows very quiet and closes their eyes as if they are searching for inspiration to write a novel. They open their eyes after a few seconds and walk past you.

“You will know the answer in due time. For now focus on getting out of the maze,” Tac replies.

You swallow hard. “Where exactly am I inside the maze?”

Tac walks over to a button on the wall and presses it. The ceiling lights come on, kissing everything it touches. You look around the room slowly and notice that you are not inside a small cell but on a train; a very nice train to be exact.

The seats look like they were taken from business class on an airplane and there are pillows that have silk pillowcases on them on every seat. The curtains and picture frames on the wall are covered in gold with small diamonds in it and the floor is made out of wood with a clover engraved into it.

“I’m confused. I thought I was inside of a maze. Why am I inside of a train?” you pick up a pillow to examine it closely. “Why would the guards send us to a nice place?”

Tac puts his hands behind his back as he walks towards a sliding door that leads to another train car. He stops inches away from the door and clicks his tongue before he speaks again.

“Don’t be fooled by the luxury around you. You are indeed inside of a maze. Like I said before, you need to focus on getting out of this maze if you want to speak to your lawyer again,” Tac says in a serious tone.

You narrow your eyes. “Wait, how do you know about that?”

Tac slides the door open and steps into the next train car. “Please follow me. I’ll take you to your cellmates.”

~*~

You find your cellmates asleep in the seventh train car. There’s a blanket covering their body and a pillow behind their head. Their seats are reclined so that they can sleep comfortably and the curtains on the windows are closed to prevent the sun from shining inside.

Tac bows elegantly. “I will return once we arrive at the next station in six hours. Until then, please eat and get some sleep. You’ll need it.”

Tac smiles in an eerie way before he leaves the train car. You sigh as you stare at your cellmates, contemplating if you want to wake them up so that you can converse about the maze. Instead, you decide to sit down in an empty seat next to Hisoka.

“I was wondering where my unripe fruit went,” Hisoka says with his eyes closed still. He scratches his neck before he leans his head against the window. “What took you so long?”

_More importantly why is she hanging around that tour guide? There’s something off about him but I can’t quite put my finger on it. His nen is strong but he’s hiding it away from us. The only way for me to find out whom he really is by starting a fight. But if I start a fight I’ll get all of us in trouble and quite possibly prevent us from getting out of this maze. This maze isn’t ordinary. I sense other prisoners nearby. Are we competing against them to the finish line? If so, I’m going to enjoy my time down here. I’ll have other toys to play with._

Your posture stiffens as you listen to Hisoka’s thoughts. He believes you’re competing against other prisoners. The tour guide didn’t mention anything about a completion nor did you see any prisoners in the other train cars. Why does the magician believe this?

Does he know something?

“What did the tour guide say to you?” you ask him.

Hisoka opens up his eyes and smirks. “Oh? Is my unripe fruit curious if I’ve found another unripe fruit to pluck? Don’t worry; you’ll always be my special fruit that I’ll keep a close eye on.”

“I’m assuming he told you to eat and get some sleep since we’re stopping at the next station?”

“It’s possible.”

“Where’s the food at? I’m a little hungry.”

Hisoka points to a box beside his feet. “There are sandwiches, drinks, chips, and fruit in there.” He leans toward you grinning harder, baring his white fangs. “If you want some, you have to tell me why you decided to get us sent here? I’m very curious.”

Why is he so interested? Oh wait. That’s because you’re his precious unripe fruit that he wants to keep alive until he decides to kill you. He doesn’t really care about the reason why you got everyone sent to the hole.

No.

The only reason why he’s asking is because he’s bored and wants something to do. More importantly he wants you to entertain him as if he’s a child that needs a toy to play with in an empty room. This is all a game to him. He could easily kill you and find a way out of the maze without breaking a sweat if he wanted to.

But no, he much rather keep an eye on you like a hawk following its prey.

Crap.

~*~

Hours pass as the train continues through the maze, climbing small hills and swerving around mountains. You thought the train was moving through an actual maze until you looked outside and saw a field of flowers surrounding small houses in the distance. It seems that you’re no longer under the ocean but on an island somewhere close to the prison.

You can’t remember how you got to the maze because the guards had put you and your cellmates to sleep by filling your prison cell with a sleeping gas. The last thing you remember before the gas had filled the room was Hisoka and Chrollo arguing about the last chocolate pudding inside the refrigerator.

Apparently, someone had eaten all of Hisoka’s strawberry pudding so he wanted to eat Chrollo’s last chocolate pudding. They had argued for about two hours, exchanging nasty words and occasionally pushing each other a little until the sleeping gas filled the room, causing everyone to fall asleep.

You’re glad the guards put you to sleep otherwise you would have kicked Chrollo and Hisoka in their manhood to shut them up. Sometimes you wish the two would stop arguing all the time. It drives you nuts.

Tac enters the train carrying several backpacks in his hands. He hands you a backpack and sets the rest on the floor. As he reaches into his pocket to pull out a small map that looks like it was drawn by a child, Phinks says something in a raspy voice.

“Where are we? Why are there backpacks on the floor?” Phinks asks as he sits up in the chair. He glances at Tac for a few seconds before looking at you, curling his lip a little. “We really need to talk. What you did at the store was uncalled for.”

“What did she do at the store?” Feitan asks in a low tone. He stretches his arms and cracks his neck. “Depending on what she did, I’ll…”

Tac raises his hands in the air. “You can discuss this matter later. I would like you to focus your attention on me for a few minutes. What I’m about to tell you I will only say it once so please pay attention.” He straightens his back and clears his throat. “As you can tell you’re inside of a train that’s traveling around an island the prison uses as the place you know as the hole.  This train will stop at a station called Asellus. Once you arrive at the station, use this map to get to a house that you’ll be staying at for a month. Inside the house are more instructions for the first game you’ll be participating in. The goal is to clear the first game so that you can move onto the second game.”

You blink. “Wait, we’re playing a game? I thought the hole was some dreadful place to be. Why are we playing a game for?”

Tac makes a humming noise. “Technically the hole is a dreadful place. If you don’t clear the first game, you’ll be sent to the electric chair. Why do you think the other prisoners don’t get into trouble? It’s because they know what type of place this is.”

Goosebumps appear on your arm as his words register in your mind. If you can’t clear the first game, you’re going to die. What happens when you finish all of the games? Do you go back to your prison cell or do you keep playing the game? As much as he says there’s an exit to this maze, you’re starting to think that’s not true.

Crap.

How are you supposed to find someone who loves to gossip if you’re playing a game with your cellmates?

Could this day get any worse?

~*~

You arrive at the house after walking from Asellus station for two hours. The tour guide forgot to tell you that the house is far from the station on purpose. You ended up stopping at three gas stations to use the restroom and buy drinks because the backpacks Tac gave you didn’t have anything useful inside of it besides a notebook, a pencil, an eraser, and a planner.

You enter the house and nearly gasp at how beautiful the furniture, the wallpaper, and floor are inside the living room. The couches are a cream color and the large coffee table in front of it has a dragon engraved in the wood with diamonds in it. The floor is made out of marble and the wallpaper is sky blue.

Hisoka tosses his backpack on the couch and walks into the kitchen while everyone else looks around the living room, unimpressed with the furniture clogging the room.  You head to the bedroom on the second floor to find a piece of paper on the queen size bed with instructions for the first game. You pick it up and read it slowly.

“For the first game, it looks like we’re pretending to be a family. Feitan is the….,” you choke on your spit and cough frantically at the roles you’ve been assigned. “No, no, no, no! Why is this happening?!”

“Why is what happening?” Feitan asks entering the room with his hands inside his pants pocket. He looks at the paper and snorts loudly. “Isn’t that interesting? I’m playing the role as the mother and Illumi as the father in this first game. It looks like you’re playing the role as my daughter and Phinks is your wife.”

Did he just say that Phinks is your wife?

You swallow hard. “This can’t be real. What type of game is this?! This has to be a lie.”

Feitan nudges you in the side with his elbow. “What role does Hisoka have?”

You look quickly while holding your breath. Whatever role they assigned him can’t be as bad as your role. Or is his role worse? As soon as you read Hisoka’s role, you almost choke on your spit again.

“Hmm it looks like Hisoka, Shalnark, and Chrollo are playing the role as your overprotective sisters,” Feitan tries to say with a straight face but ends up laughing hysterically like a mad man. He nudges you in the side again. “You should treat your older sisters with respect.”

“Be quiet!” you hiss.

Feitan takes the paper out of your hands and reads the rest of the instructions out loud.

“Our goal is to pretend to be a family for a month; however, if we fight or attempt to kill each other, we will lose the game.  In addition, we have to be in character at all times, meaning we have to be dressed up as a man or woman, depending on the role, and sleep in the same bed as our spouse if we are married. This game is a test of integrity, honesty, and loyalty,” Feitan says very carefully. He groans a little as he tosses the paper on the bed. It misses and falls to the floor. “I’m not going to sleep in the same bed as Illumi.”

You swallow hard again. “I don’t want to sleep in the same bed as Phinks but it looks like we don’t have a choice.”

_Phinks’s is bound to try something if he finds out he’s sleeping in the same bed as her. Actually, nah, he’s not going to try anything. He’s too much of a chicken plus he likes to get to know the girl first before he has sex with them. The last time he’s had sex was three years ago. Now that I think about it, I haven’t had sex in about four years. Why did they have to put a female in our cell? Every time I look at her I get hard a little._

You try not to blush from Feitan’s thoughts as you walk away from him to the bathroom. There’s a shower and tub in the corner of the room and a walk in closet filled with towels, shampoo, hand soap, and sanitary napkins. You sigh in relief once you spot a box of tampons because you’re going to need it for the rest of week.

Wait.

Wait.

Hold on, the rules said that everyone needs to be in character at all times. Does that mean the guys have to pretend their menstruating? Will the guards or the weird tour guide give you a new scenario every week?

Oh no! No, no, no, no! This is bad. Why is this happening? You much rather go to an actual prison cell that’s filled with dead rodents and rot to death than listen to the guys pretend that they are having cramps.

Can this get any worse?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like.


	6. Chapter 6

“Phinks, scoot over otherwise I’m kicking you out of the room,” you hiss as Phinks moves away from you on the bed. You pull the blanket up to your chin and sigh. “You’re making me hot and I want to get some sleep.”

“I’m sorry, but the challenge for this week says that we need to cuddle or at least pretend that we are having sex,” Phinks whispers as he stares at your body with lust in his eyes. “I…uh…think we should try to pretend that we are having sex.”

No.

No.

Hell no.

Even if you were horny and wanted to have sex with one of your cellmates, Phinks is the last person you would ever consider spreading your legs for. You rather masturbate inside the bathroom or at least dry hump the annoying clown than have sex with Phinks.

Phinks lifts his head up from the pillow, breathes hard, and tries to scoot closer to you. You feel his hot breath on the side of your face as you lay on your back, starring up at the ceiling, counting the number of spider webs clinging to the ugly cracked wallpaper.

_My dick is throbbing right now. I hope she didn’t feel my erection when I was next to her. I don’t want her to think that I’m that a pervert. I’m not one. I just want to have sex. No. No. I’ll take a hand job or a blowjob. Crap. I’ll even masturbate at this point._

Good gosh. Would Phinks calm the hell down? He makes it seem like if he doesn’t have sex right now he’s going to cum in his pants like a teenager having a wet dream.

Why is he so horny? Doesn’t he masturbate a lot? You figure if he did, he wouldn’t be having so many sexual thoughts.

“So, uh…we need to do one or the other, otherwise, we will lose the challenge,” Phinks mentions.

You roll your eyes. “We can cuddle but I’m not going to pretend to have sex with you.”

“Fine,” Phinks moves closer to you and wraps his arms around your body. He presses his erection against your butt on accident, blushes hard and tries to apologize immediately. “I…uh…I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s fine, just don’t cum in your pants,” you spit out.

Phinks narrows his eyes. “Why would you say that for? I’m not a horny teenager.”

“Would you just go to sleep? We have a lot of things to do in the morning,” you close your eyes and move a little closer to Phinks even though you told him to scoot away. The cold air in the room makes you shiver a little. “Hold me tighter, it’s cold in here.”

“Would you make up your mind?” Phinks barks as he pulls you closer to his body.

You lay next to him in silence, trying to focus on falling asleep so that you can wake up in the morning and cook breakfast for Phinks. The challenge requires you to cook Phinks a nutritious breakfast on top of cuddling or pretending to have sex with him for a week.

Phinks has to do chores around the house and pretend that he’s menstruating for one week. The thought of him groaning due to fake cramps makes you want to kill the creators of the game. Heck, he just might pretend that he’s in so much pain that he can’t do any chores, leaving it to you.

There’s no way in hell you’re doing his chores. He has to do it himself.

“Why did you get us sent here? What are you looking for?” Phinks pulls a large blank over your bodies and rests his head next to yours on the pillow.

“Didn’t Chrollo tell you that I’m looking for someone who’s spreading a rumor about me?”

Phinks closes his eyes. “He did but I don’t believe the rumor.”

_She doesn’t seem like the type to prowl on men and she hasn’t made a move on me. She’s very distant and doesn’t say much. It’s like she’s hiding something. What is she hiding? Why did she want to come to the hole? This place is bizarre._

You’re happy Phinks doesn’t believe the rumors. It brings joy to your heart but at the same time you are afraid he’ll start asking questions you don’t want to answer. He can’t know the real reason you want to dissolve the rumor.

“I’m going to ask our neighbor next door to see if they heard any rumors about me. There’s bound to be someone in this neighborhood who loves to gossip,” you say.

“Did you want me to come with you? We can turn your investigation into a date since we’re playing the role as a married couple,” Phinks suggests.

You snort. “Are you going to wear a skirt and show off your hairy legs or put make up over the stubble on your chin?”

“No, I plan on shaving in the morning,” Phinks replies in a deep tone.

You wonder if your neighbors are other prisoners trapped in the hole or if they are guards wearing disguises. How long have been down in the hole for? Are they getting paid a lot of money to participate in the bizarre game?

“Good night,” you whisper.

“Good night,” Phinks whispers back.

~*~

You’re alarm clock goes off at exactly six o’clock in the morning. Phinks presses the snooze button and cuddles you for a few more minutes until the alarm goes off again. This time he doesn’t press the snooze button, but instead, touches your arm gently with his cold fingers.

Your eyes flash open and you sit up dazed and confused from sleeping hard. Phinks moves off the bed, grabs some clothes from the dresser across the room, and enters the bathroom without saying anything.

The sound of water flowing out of the shower makes you stare at the bathroom door for a few moments, pondering your next move as the sun rises outside the window. You want to take a shower after Phinks but at the same time you want to eat breakfast before your other cellmates.

Knowing them, they still might be sleeping, which is good for you because the kitchen will be quiet and empty. The thought that you’ll be able to cook eggs and bacon in peace makes you happy.

It seems like this day is going well so far.

Just as you move off the bed, Hisoka, Chrollo, and Illumi barge into the room without knocking on the door. They look at you for a split second before knocking on the bathroom door hard. You notice they aren’t wearing anything except for a small towel around their waist. If they bend down, you’re bound to see their manhood.

 “Good morning, did you sleep well last night little sister?” Hisoka asks.

“Yes until now,” you hiss.

Why can’t they leave the room and go back to sleep? Isn’t there another restroom inside the house? You didn’t check because you were frustrated with the roles the prison had assigned you.

It seems like this day is off to bad start so far.

You slip off the bed and make your way to kitchen on the first floor. There’s a piece of paper on top of the counter with a bow attached to the corner. You pick up the paper biting your lower lip and read it.

_Good morning group 14,_

_The challenge for today is to shop for groceries at the store without arguing. You’re going to host a house warming party tonight and all of your neighbors will stop by around seven o’clock. While you are hosting the party you must mingle with at least two guests and get information about them. Choose wisely because someone at the party is going to die. You must find the killer before the party ends. Once you find the killer, please write down the person’s name on this paper and put it inside of the mailbox. Someone will call you tomorrow in the morning to let you know if your answer is correct or not._

_P.S. You are versing other group of prisoners who are trying to escape the hole. Your group’s name is group 14._

_We wish you good luck as you survive the hole._

Wait. What the hell? You have to find a killer before your house warming party ends? That’s insane. It’s impossible to find a raging psychopath in a short amount of time unless another raging psychopath finds them.

You place the paper on the counter nodding your head a little. This game doesn’t seem that bad as long as you find the correct killer. If you ask one of your cellmates to search the party for them, you will be able pass the challenge.

Yes. It looks like this day is off to a good start.

~*~

You push a shopping cart down the produce aisle while your cellmates walk beside you quietly. To your surprise, there are not a lot of people inside the grocery store which makes you happy because it prevents your cellmates, mainly Hisoka, from searching for a worthy opponent to fight. He’s been itching to bash someone’s head in ever since you arrived in the hole.

You grab some carrots, cucumbers, and mushrooms off a shelf and toss it into the shopping cart. Your cellmates don’t say anything because a casual conversation might turn into an argument which is something you want to avoid at all cost. Losing the first challenge will keep you in the hole forever. Or at least, it will send you to the electric chair.

As you push the shopping cart to the check-out counter, Hisoka, Chrollo, and Illumi make their way to the women’s restroom. You nearly choke on your spit as they open up the door and step inside. Feitan places his hand on your arm, shakes his head and pushes you toward the register where an employee a shaggy hair greets you.

Crap.

You can’t even say anything to Feitan about the situation because it will be seen as an argument. The only thing you can do is pretend that you need to use the restroom in order to find out what they are doing inside. You pray they aren’t trying to kill anyone or at least freaking them out with their quirky ways.

You enter the restroom to find it empty. There are fifteen stalls lined up against the wall. Four of them are closed while the others are open. You walk to a stall that has the door closed and knock on it while clamping your mouth shut.

“What does my adorable little sister want?” Hisoka asks in a high pitch voice that pisses you off a little.

“We need to get going since our guests will be arriving in a few hours,” you say.

Hisoka flushes the toilet and leaves the stall pulling down his skirt that has pictures of bungeegum all over it. You notice his hair is slick back with gel and he’s wearing heart shape clip on earrings. His attire looks like he’s attempt to cosplay as a magical girl except his outfit is hideous and makes you want to burn it with a match.

It’s the same as the other cellmates who are dressing up as a woman. Their attire is just as hideous as Hisoka’s and they didn’t even bother putting on make-up or at least asking you to style their hair. They could have put on a wig to cover their hair but no, they decided to slick it back with gel.

Chrollo and Illumi exit the stall and wash their hands inside the sink. As they dry their hands off with a paper towel, you decide to converse more about the house warming party because you want to assign one of them to find the killer.

It definitely can’t be Hisoka. He’s going to lie or at least try to sabotage the challenge. You have to win it to move onto the next round.

Screw him.

“Before we head home, I want one of you to find the killer. And no it can’t be Hisoka because I don’t feel like listening to one of his lies,” you say crossing your arms.

Hisoka leans against the wall and chuckles. “It’s fine if you don’t choose me. I wasn’t planning on looking for the killer anyway.”

That’s great that he doesn’t want to look for killer but what will he do instead? He’s not the type to sit around and mingle with strangers.  He’s the type to find a worthy opponent to fight.

Crap. That’s another problem you’ll have to deal with.

Chrollo cups his chin. “Why don’t Illumi and I mingle with the guests while you and Phinks look for the killer? Shalnark and Hisoka can entertain the guests while Feitan can serve food and drinks. It keeps all of us occupied and working together.”

Illumi nods his head. “I agree with Chrollo. Something tells me that this challenge requires all of our participation in order to pass.”

Illumi has a point. Even if you managed to find the killer and submit their name, you might be disqualified because there wasn’t any teamwork.

Crap.

You clench and unclench your jaw. “Fine, I’ll look for the killer with Phinks but no horseplay.”

In some ways your glad Chrollo decided to take control and assign everyone a task. It gives you the opportunity to think of a plan to find someone at the party who loves to gossip. They might have information about the person whose spreading rumors about you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. :)


	7. Chapter 7

 

The housewarming party wasn’t what you had expected it to be because the guests are actually inmates from different cellblocks pretending to be a family. Their roles are similar; a mom, a dad, daughters and sons. The only difference is their weekly scenarios and of course, the daily challenge they must complete by the end of the day.

You stand inside the kitchen with a wine glass in your hand, wearing an ugly dress that has various colors all over it with a giant bow on the back. It looks like an abstract expressionist had dipped their brush into different buckets of paint and splashed it all over the dress. To the artist, it looks like a masterpiece but in your eyes, it looks ghastly.

Jazz music blasts in the air as guests’ converse with each other, wearing elegant attire that’s suited for a cocktail party. Majority of the woman wear short sparkly dresses that make them look like coke bottles sprinkled with glitter and stiletto heels on their feet while the men wear tuxes with a rose tucked into the front pocket, a red tie, and polished leather shoes.

Phinks enters the kitchen wearing a similar dress to yours except his doesn’t have as many colors splashed on the fabric. It looks a little better than yours; too good to be exact. In some ways you want him to take it off so that you can wear it; however, the size is too big.

“Shall we mingle with the guests dear?” Phinks says in a feminine tone that makes you choke on your spit. He walks over to you, placing his hand on the counter to help him walk in heels properly. “Why did you suggest wearing these shoes for? I can’t walk in them.”

You lift the wine glass to your lips. “The heels suit you dear.” You walk over to him, continuing to hold the glass to your lips and whisper in his ear. “Try not to act out of character because that obnoxious tour guide might here spying to make sure we are actually completing the challenge.”

Phinks places his hand on your hip. “Oh, so does that mean I can get a little kiss from my beautiful wife?”

_She looks good in that dress, especially with the stiletto heels on her feet. I wonder what type of underwear she’s wearing. Perhaps a thong or maybe that sexy frilly underwear I saw on the bed this morning? Maybe I should drop something on the floor so that she can bend over and pick it up._

You push Phinks’s hand off your hip. “I’m not bending over for you pervert.”

“Uh, what did you say?”

“Oh, shi…it’s nothing,” you walk over to the door to peek at the guests chatting in the living room. “Let’s mingle with the guests dear.”

“Sure,” Phinks says narrowing his eyes.

~*~

Hisoka and Shalnark sit on an l-shape couch that’s next to the window in the living room, wearing a tux, freshly polished leather shoes, and a red tie to match the rose tucked into the jacket’s front pocket. Their hair is combed back neatly with gel and there’s a faint scent of vanilla cologne drifting from them.

Shalnark leans back against the couch before he lifts his wine glass to his lips and takes a sip. He should be mingling with the guests but he prefers to observe everyone’s actions until he sees something that catches his eye.

“Who do you think the killer is?” Shalnark stares at two guests sitting on a loveseat across the room. They both wear matching earrings that’s in the shape of a star. “Do you suppose it’s one of our neighbors?”

Hisoka makes a humming noise. “It could be anyone to tell you the truth. After all, all of our neighbors are inmates from different cell blocks. They’ve been assigned similar roles just like us and have a challenge that they must complete before the end of the party.”

“Hmm how would you know that? The guest could be the locals on this island.”

Hisoka makes a card appear in his hand. “It’s very unlikely. The locals wouldn’t come to our house warming party if they know we are dangerous criminals. Everyone here is a prisoner trying to figure out who the killer is.”

“If this is a competition to see who can pass the challenge first, we should find out who the killer is soon,” Shalnark says in an exciting tone. He leans closer to Hisoka, grinning hard. “Shall we shake things up a bit?”

“What do you have in mind?” Hisoka whispers while eyeing some guests walking over to him. They sit down next him to him on the couch without greeting or at least asking to see if the spot is occupied by someone else. “I’m in the mood to mess a weak person up.”

Shalnark listens to the jazz music blasting from the stereo that’s on top of the entertainment center for a few moments before he responds. If the killer is a guest inside the room, they’ll probably murder their target towards the end of the party.

“Why don’t we play a little game of who am I? The rules are pretty simple and since there aren’t that many guests here, we can all fit inside the living room,” Shalnark whispers.

Hisoka licks his lips. “Sounds like an interesting game. Perhaps it’s part of the challenge.”

Shalnark shrugs. “Most likely which is good for us because we are one step closer to completing our first challenge. Now we need to write down the killer’s name.”

~*~

“My dear daughter, could you pour me a glass of wine and chat with me for a bit?” Feitan asks you in a somewhat rude way.

_Why in the hell did they give me the role as the mother? This entire situation doesn’t make any sense. I much rather kill everyone at the party than sit around and mingle others as if I’m some obnoxious housewife who loves to gossip. The thought that I have to share my bed with Illumi pisses me off. Not only does he sleep with his eyes open, he keeps calling me Killua for some reason. What the hell is wrong with him?_

At least Feitan gets to sleep with Illumi who isn’t as bad Phinks. You would do anything to sleep on a bed alone underneath a large warm blanket peacefully without worrying that the blonde eyebrow less horn dog is going to try something.

You pick up a bottle of grape wine off the table and pour it into Feitan’s glass while trying not to make contact with him because his attire makes you want to gag. His dress is extremely bright, glittery, and has buckles everywhere. It looks like something a character would wear in a video game.

To think that Feitan actually feels comfortable wearing it makes you question his position in the Phantom Troupe. The deadly gang doesn’t seem like the type to wear dreadful attire while pretending to be the opposite sex. The only reason they are is because they want to escape the hole.

But at the same time, they could have said no to the eerie tour guide and slaughter everyone at the party. Maybe they are enjoying the challenge because there’s nothing else to do.

_How am I supposed to find my target at this party when anyone could be them? That freakin tour guide, what’s his name again, Tac, Tik, whatever the hell his name is, he could have given me their name. It would make things a lot easier. But no, he wants me to search for them so that I can complete this stupid challenge. I can’t wait to escape this place as soon as possible._

Who thought that? You quickly look around the living room as you place the wine bottle on top of the table; the bottle makes a clinging noise as it comes into contact with the surface. Hopefully the person thinks about something again so that you can find out who they are. It’s a shame that you were preoccupied pouring wine for Feitan otherwise you would have found the killer sooner.

Crap.

“Who do you think the killer is?” Feitan asks you.

You sit down in a seat next to him and clench your fist. “I’m not sure but it’s definitely someone at this party.” Who the hell is it? Maybe you should walk around a few times until the person thinks again. “Have you discovered anything unusual about the guests?”

Why bother asking Feitan the question when you can use your ability to locate the killer easily. It’s great that you can hear people’s thoughts but at the same time, it’s bad. How are you supposed to explain to your cellmates that you know the killer is without investigating a lot?

Sure you could tell them you have the ability to hear people’s thoughts but that would piss them off, maybe cause them to slice your throat open because you’ve heard every thought they’ve ever had since you’ve met them.

“Not yet but I’m sure Chrollo’s found something,” he takes a sip of his wine while staring at Chrollo and Illumi chatting with two guests who seem a little uninterested in the conversation because their eyes occasionally wonder to the other guests in the room. “Our leader is good at obtaining information.”

He’s also good at asking a bazillion questions until the person wants to pull their hair out. Sometimes you wish he would stop asking so many questions whenever he’s curious about something. It’s extremely annoying and makes you want to kick him in his manhood; however, it’s good he’s playing the twenty question game with the guests.

Wait, no his actions won’t help you complete the first challenge. You will help your cellmates win by using your ability. For some reason, you didn’t think about using it from the begininng. It had slipped your mind just like last night’s events with Phinks.

“I’m not sleeping next to him again tonight. He’s sleeping on the floor,” you mutter, clenching your fist harder until your knuckles hurt.

Feitan leans closer to you and whispers. “Did something happen between you and Phinks last night? He’s been acting strange all day as if he’s had sex.”

You narrow your eyes. “I would never sleep with Phinks even if he was last man alive. I much rather dry hump Chrollo or Hisoka and those two are worse than him.”

“I can understand why you wouldn’t want to dry hump the annoying clown, but Chrollo is better than him. He treats his ladies very well,” Feitan says.

You shake your head. “I don’t actually want to dry hump anyone. Sociopaths and psychopaths aren’t my type. I want to live before exchanging my wedding vows.”

Feitan snorts. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? What’s wrong with sociopaths and psychopaths? Sure we have a couple of screws lose but that doesn’t mean we make horrible dates.”

Is Feitan serious? Psychopaths and sociopaths have more than a few screws lose in their head. They have a lot of screws lose to be exact. Their thoughts are more disturbing than your step brother who’s a sex addict. The guy can’t keep his dick in his pants even if he wanted to. Every person he’s ever slept with, he writes their name down on a sticky note and puts it inside of glass jar.

Your step brother’s actions are very unsettling but not as much as your cellmate’s actions. You still can’t believe Feitan had killed a prisoner because he claimed to be part of the Phantom Troupe. Yes, the prisoner shouldn’t have lied about it but did they have to die? No.

Shalnark stands up and yells for the guests to gather in the living room. At first they don’t budge and ignore the blonde as if he’s invisible but soon after they make their way to the room, one by one, chatting loudly. Some take a seat on the couch while others sit on the floor.

Feitan nudges you in the side. “It looks like we’ll be able to find the killer sooner. Have you ever played who am I?”

“I’ve heard about it but I’m not sure it’s going to work since you need to write down a famous person’s name on a hat and give it to everyone. The only way I could see it working is if you write down killer on one of the hat’s and give it too…” you trail off as soon as you see a guest who has short spikey hair wearing glasses stand against the wall. Their eyes widen as if they just saw a ghost in the living room before clamping their mouth shut. “Hold on, I think this is a good idea. We’re definitely going to win this challenge.”

Feitan nods his head. “Of course we’re going to win. The Phantom Troupe wins at everything.”

You roll your eyes. “Sure, whatever you say Feitan.”

~*~

Shalnark writes down all of the guests’ names on party hats he found in a cabinet above the microwave. Some guests were reluctant to participate in the game since they wanted to go home and change out of their clothes. Others were eager to play; maybe a little too much because they kept bumping into you to grab party hats from Shalnark.

The guy with the glasses stands next to you, clenching and unclenching his fist over and over again as if he’s anticipating for something to happen. At first you want to ask him what’s wrong but decide to use your ability to listen to his thoughts. It’s the easy way to gather Intel about him.

_She’s the only female at this party. At least I think she really is a female unless it’s another male dressed up as a woman. Please let her be the person I’m supposed to kill so that I can submit her name to win this challenge. Gosh dangit. I can’t just ask for her name out of the blue. Wait. Maybe I can? It’s not like she knows I’m the killer._

Oh? So it seems like he’s the killer. That’s good. No. It’s fantastic that you’ve found the killer soon. Now the only the thing you have to do is figure out what his name is so that you can win this challenge.

Yes, it looks like things are going your way for a change.

He clears his throat a few times before attempting to converse with you. The smell of grapes drifts from his breath, filling your nostrils with a pleasant aroma. You assume he drunk some grape wine unless he’s chewing on gum.

“So, um, some game this is huh?” he finally says after a few moments. His voice sounds a little raspy as if he’s recovering from a cold.

You cross your arms. “The game is alright. I guess we’re supposed to go around and guess what name is on our hat. Would you like to be my partner?”

Please say yes. The longer he stays next to you, the more thoughts you are able to listen to. Maybe he even knows some gossip that will aid you in locating the person responsible for spreading false rumors.

Right as you look around the room for a guest to play the game with, Illumi and Chrollo walk up to you, holding their head high as if they are the stars of the party. They don’t even bother to greet the guy standing next to you. In fact, they don’t make eye contact with him.

“You’re on our team,” Illumi says. He snaps his finger and points to a group of guests gathering in the middle of the room. “Let’s go.”

_I want to kill everyone at this party. I can’t believe I’m actually participating in this poor people’s game with a bunch of morons. A Zoldyck doesn’t play games with the poor. I bet some of these people haven’t taken a bath in days. Not only do poor people have bad hygiene, they also don’t know how to dress properly. I can’t stand their hideous attire. It makes me want to throw pity money at their feet so that they can buy decent clothes._

Wow, just wow. Illumi just had to bring up his wealth like he usually does to make it seem like everyone is inferior to him.

Why are Zoldycks such ass hats?

“Illumi, I’m going to play this game with…” you place your hand on the guy’s shoulder. He smiles quickly, baring his white fangs. “I’m sorry I didn’t get your name?”

_Dangit I have to tell her my real name since I can’t lie. Well I could lie but this game requires us to be honest and I don’t want to ruin my team’s chances of leaving this hellhole. What are the chances that she knows that I’m killer? I guess I have nothing to worry about._

“My name is Ken,” he extends his hand out to Illumi but the assassin looks down at it with a disgust look on his face that makes Ken pull his hand away immediately. “Uh, maybe I should find another partner. I didn’t know you were teaming up with your cellmates.”

“Yes, she’s teaming up with us so you can leave now,” Chrollo says.

You grab Chrollo and Illumi’s hand. “I’m sorry Ken but I’ll be right back in a few moments.” The two sociopaths don’t say anything as you lead them to the bathroom on the first floor. There’s no one inside when you enter it which is good, because you’ll be able to talk chat in private. “That guy is the killer. We don’t need to team up anymore.”

Illumi tilts his head to the side. “How do you know that? Did he tell you he’s the killer?”

“Even if he did tell you, he could have been lying,” Chrollo adds.

Darn it, how are you supposed to tell them that you have solid proof that he’s the killer?

Crap.

“My instinct tells me that he’s the killer. Please don’t ask me for details,” you say.

Chrollo makes a humming noise. “If you honestly believe he’s the killer than I trust your instincts but I’m going to double check by having one of the troupe members interrogate him.”

“Don’t interrogate him at all. Remember in order to get out of the maze we have to show integrity and honesty. That includes not torturing or killing the other players,” you say sternly.

“She does have a point. If Feitan tortures him, we’ll be disqualified from the game and sent to the electric chair,” Chrollo utters.

You open up the door and look out into the hallway to make sure no one is eavesdropping on the conversation. When you don’t see anyone, you wave for them to follow you back into the living room. The guests are laughing and chatting loudly about the game while some are checking their watches to see if it’s time to leave.

Shalnark and Hisoka glance over at you from the across the room to see if you’ve found the killer. Instead of walking over to tell them the exciting news, you give them a thumbs up.

You’ve won the first challenge of this twisted game. In some ways, you’re looking forward to the daily challenge tomorrow with hope it’s not as ridiculous as the one from today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like. :)


	8. Chapter 8

 

You find out that you’ve passed the first daily challenge sometime in the afternoon by email although the guards were supposed to call. They must have changed their mind or they were too busy stick with the original plan; nevertheless, you’ve pleased to passed.

 Now it’s time to relax until you have to complete the next daily challenge. That’s if there’s another one for today. The mail carrier hasn’t stopped by to deliver a letter with instructions yet. For some reason, they’ve stopped by the neighbors instead.

Maybe you got immunity from the next challenge for winning?

It seems very unlikely. There’s no way that’s going to happen unless they have something else planned?

“Have you found out what our next challenge is?” Phinks asks entering the living room, wearing pajamas that have hearts all over it. He sits down in the love seat across from you and crosses his leg. “If we keep winning every challenge, we’ll be out of this maze in no time.”

“Unless we make a mistake and end up in the electric chair,” you remind him.

The other cellmaes enter the living room wearing pajamas similar to Phinks except the color is different. They sit down on the l-shape couch and prop their feet up on the coffee table. You want to tell them to put their feet on the floor but end up keeping your mouth shut. Trying to argue with a bunch of hardheads will only irritate you.

“I hope the next challenge allows us to interrogate the other prisoners,” Feitan says crossing his arms. He laughs a little. “Wouldn’t it be funny if they gave us two new cellmates to interrogate?”

No, that doesn’t sound like something you want to do let alone imagine. You much rather question the neighbors to see if they know anything about the person spreading rumors. You missed the opportunity to ask Ken last night because; well, he had fled the party with his cellmates as soon as it was over.

“While we wait for the next challenge, why don’t we have a BBQ or drive around the island?” Shalnark holds up a map of the island and points to a beach. “I’ve heard this beach has an amusement park. I wouldn’t mind checking it out.”

“Why? So that you can steal and kill people?” you spit out.

Shalnark laughs. “Of course I’m going to steal things but I might not kill anyone unless they provoked me.”

Or Shalnark can stay at home and do nothing since the main challenge requires everyone to be honest and have integrity at all time. If he’s caught murdering someone, your team will be disqualified and sent to the electric chair. There’s no way in hell you’re allowing the blonde to screw you over.

“I think its best we stay inside the…” you begin to say but stop when someone rings the doorbell.

Everyone looks at the door as you open it up expecting to see the mail carrier but instead there are several guards with handcuffs in their hands grinning hard. They enter the house without greeting you and immediately start arresting your cellmates. Before you get a chance to squeak out a word, a guard pushes you against the wall hard and places handcuffs on your wrists.

“If you value your life, don’t say anything,” the guard says angrily as he guides you outside to a bus that has some other prisoners inside. They help you to a seat located in back and fasten a seatbelt tightly around your waist. “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. Just don’t say anything for the rest of the ride.”

Guards escort your cellmates to seats toward the front, making it difficult for you to communicate with them. It appears they want to keep you separated from the six dangerous criminals for some reason. Perhaps they’re afraid you’ll try to escape together but there’s nowhere to hide on the island. If guards are busting down every door in the neighborhood, it’s possible there’s more in other locations.

The only option now is to listen to everyone’s thoughts and try to figure out what’s going on.

~*~

The ride to the unknown destination is long and boring. Every so often the bus stops at a rest area so that the prisoners can use the restroom. One guard waits for the males to get off the bus first before escorting you to the family restroom since the women’s restroom seems to be closed at every stop. It makes you wonder if the plumbing system has severe issues that nobody wants to fix.

Sometimes the guards will buy snacks from a vending machine and pass them out to everyone while other times they don’t buy anything at all. Missing a meal, well snack, doesn’t bother you because you’re used to eating small portions throughout the day. As long as you drink water to stay hydrated is vital.

You look outside the window to see fields of grass with some flowers poking out at the top by pass quickly. In the distance are mountains and trees along with some houses and garages. You’re not for sure if anyone lives in the area because there’s nobody outside and there’s some piles of trash on the road.

If anyone lives there, they haven’t cleaned around their house in years.

“According to the island’s guidebook, this part of the island hasn’t had any residents in years,” a prisoner with a soft voice says next to you. He crosses his leg and arms. “Where were you staying on the island? I was on the rich side.”

You don’t bother looking at him because there’s no point in conversing with someone who’s trying to flirt. His pickup line is annoying as much as his know it all attitude. Nobody asked him to talk about the island’s history. He must be the type to spit out facts whenever he’s trying to get laid or at least get a date.

That crap isn’t going to work on you.

“May I have your name?” he asks.

Would this guy shut the hell up? Geeze, why can’t he try conversing with someone else? Isn’t there another prisoner who’s awake right now?

He closes his eyes. “I don’t mean to bother you but I wanted to introduce myself to my new cellmate since we’re going to the same prison cell.”

He has to be kidding. There’s not enough room in the prison cell for eight people. You would have to give up your bed or sleep on the floor next to one of the psycho’s.

There’s no way in hell that’s going to happen.

“You got the wrong person. I’m sure your new cellmates are somewhere on this bus,” you finally say after a few minutes.

“Your cellmates are Hisoka, Illumi, Chrollo, Shalnark, Feitan, and Phinks correct? The guard told me that you are the only female with them,” he opens up his eyes and looks down the aisle to see Hisoka licking his lips as he glances at prisoners sitting across from him. “I know a little about your cellmates, maybe more than what I’m letting on. Anyways, my name is Kite. May I have your name please?”

Despite that he’s extremely annoying; his politeness and gentle voice confuses you because he’s a dangerous criminal who’s probably in prison for murdering his family. Or maybe murdering innocent people like your cellmates.

You finally decide to look at him and notice his long white hair covering parts of his pale face and almond eyes. He’s not as muscular as Hisoka but judging by the way the uniform hugs his body, he’s toned and probably works out often to maintain his shape.

“It doesn’t matter what my name is,” you look away from him to stare outside again. The grass fields have been replaced with old buildings that look like they might crumble at any moment. “If you’re our new cellmate, I’m not so sure the others will welcome you kindly.”

Kite clicks his tongue. “I wasn’t expecting them to. As I mentioned before, I’m very aware of who they are. I’ll stay out of their way and make sure we stay out of trouble so that we can don’t lose our privileges again.”

Great, he knows about Feitan’s incident.

“What else did the guards tell you?”

“That’s all but I did hear something rather interesting. It’s pertaining to the reason why we’re leaving the hole. According to one of the guards, we have a new warden and they want all of the prisoners locked up immediately,” Kite whispers so that the prisoners sitting next to him can’t eavesdrop on the conversation.

You frown. “What happened to the other warden?”

“They were fired for illegal activities. My guess is someone reported them for sending prisoners to this island that has innocent civilians who don’t know we are dangerous criminals. The guests who had attended your house warming party weren’t all prisoners. Some were civilians who were fed lies about your true identity.”

Okay, so the previous warden was sending prisoners to an island illegally for years without anyone knowing about it. Why would someone report them all of sudden unless there was a dispute between them? Perhaps a guard grew tired of the warden’s illegal deeds and decided to take a course of action to fix the problem?

With the new warden in charge, how will it affect you? Will they give you your own cell or finally transfer you to an all-women’s prison? It’s not like you hate being in an all-male prison but sometimes it gets extremely awkward around guys who have dirty thoughts all day. You understand they have needs; however, do they have to think about sex every minute?

Yes, you love sex but that’s not the only thing on your mind every day. Leaving the prison and talking to your lawyer about your case is more important.

“Even if what you’re saying is true, that doesn’t mean the new warden won’t think of a new twisted game to throw us in. To be honest, I much rather scrub the toilets or clean out an abandoned building than go to a place like the hole again,” you whisper.

Wait, why are you telling him this? For all you know he could be lying about being your new cellmate. The only way to find out is by listening to his thoughts; however, you’re too tired to do that.

Kite leans closer to your ear. “Is there anything I should know before bringing my things to the cell? Do your cellmates have a certain sleep schedule? Who uses the toilet first in the morning?”

You sigh. “Hisoka uses the toilet first every morning. Well, actually he fights Illumi to use it but that’s not the point. He takes a long dump that makes the entire place smell like sewage and he hates it if we glance at him for a mere second. Chrollo, on the other hand, stays up after the lights are turned off and reads a book until dawn. He reads next to a nightlight that lights up the entire room. It’s extremely annoying.”

“Is anyone sleeping on the top bunk?”

“Phinks does while I sleep on the bottom one. There is another bunkbed but it’s claimed by Illumi and Feitan. Chrollo and Hisoka sleep on the couches, making it impossible to sit on it and watch a show late at night.”

Kite cups his chin. “The room has couches and a TV? It sounds like a college dorm room.”

“It looks like a dorm room at an Ivy League University. In fact the rest of the prison looks like a five star hotel because all of the appliances, furniture, and technology are up to date. Whoever built the prison, put a lot of money into it,” you say.

Several guards stand up and walk down the aisle, eyeing the handcuffs on everyone’s wrists. They whisper something to each other before walking back to the front and glancing out the window. In the distance is a large airport that has a sign on the side of it that says _Vixen Airport_.

After a few minutes, the bus driver pulls into an empty parking lot in front of the airport and cuts the engine. One guard turns around and cups his hands over his mouth before issuing orders. 

“In a few minutes, you will be escorted to an airplane. There are several snipers on top of the building who are ready to shoot if someone tries to escape. If you value your life, don’t do anything stupid. As we call your group number, walk up to the front of the bus and wait for a guard to escort you to your seat on the plane,” the guard yells.

The prisoners don’t say anything as the guard pulls out a piece of paper from their pocket and begins calling group numbers. Prisoners slowly make their way to the front of the bus with their mouths clamp shut as if they are trying to prevent dark secrets from rolling off their tongue.

Eventually, you’re group’s number is called and you are escorted to your seat in economy class. It figures that they wouldn’t place you in first or business class since you’re criminals. Well, your cellmates are criminals but you’re not.

Your seat is next to the window while Kite sits in front of you. Hisoka sits in between you and Phinks while Shalnark, Chrollo, Illumi, and Feitan sit behind you. Everything seems like a disaster since the psychotic magician is close, making it easy for him to try something ridiculous to piss you off. If he tries anything, you will search for a sharp object on the floor and stab him.

If that doesn’t work than you’ll try to make him feel uncomfortable to the point he leaves you alone. It might not work since he makes others feel uncomfortable with his quirky ways.

“We have a long flight back to the prison,” Hisoka says as he crosses his leg.

You roll your eyes. “Yes we do. I want to sleep in silence so please shut up.”

Hisoka leans closer to your ear. “I want my precious toy to entertain me.”

“Hisoka, leave her alone!" Kite yells.

Hisoka licks his lips. “I figure that was you Kite but I wasn’t too sure until now. I seem to keep finding more toys that I want to play with.”

“Hisoka, would you please shut up,” you hiss.

Phinks kicks Hisoka’s foot hard. “Shut up! You’re starting to piss me off.”

“I’m going to enjoy this flight back to the prison,” Hisoka says in a teasing tone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like. :)


	9. Chapter 9

Kite looks around the dorm with his hands behind his back, eyeing the furniture, appliances, and paint on the wall. He notices some crumbs on the couch next to an empty candy wrapper and sighs a little because he hates living in a messy place. It reminds him of his childhood when he used to live in the sewer with his pet dogs.

Phinks purposely bumps into Kite hard as he makes his way to the toilet. He doesn’t bother to apologize; not that he would to begin with, but instead mutters something vile underneath his breath. You understand that some of your cellmates hate the new addition since space is limited. There’s barely any room to move around comfortably let alone breathe fresh air without accidently inhaling someone’s body odor.

_The guards could have assigned another person to our cell instead of this bastard. I can’t stand his know it all attitude. Every time I say something, he always has a comeback. He spits out useless facts to look good in front of her. Moron. She probably hates him as much as I do. There’s no way those two would become friends. I’m sure she likes me more than him._

Sure Kite isn’t as exasperating as Phinks but that doesn’t mean you like him more. If you had it your way, the two would be spending the night in another prison cell if you file a complaint with the guards; however, they might put a bullet in your brain for reporting an issue late at night.

“The guards will be turning off the lights soon so you should find a place to sleep right now,” Feitan points to the couch that has crumbs on it.

Chrollo picks up a pillow off the top bunk where Phinks sleeps and hands it to him. It’s surprising to see the troupe leader show a kindlier side to him since majority of the time he’s quiet or reading a book in the corner of the room. If a troupe member needs something, he’s ready to aid them even if he’s preoccupied with another task.

Chrollo maybe a bookworm who’s a deadly criminal but he knows how to care for his friends. It’s a remarkable trait that you admire even though you prefer to keep your distance from him. Staying off his bad side is the best thing to do in order to survive the remaining days you have left at the prison.

Hopefully the days are few.

“Lights out!” a guard yells from the hallway in a booming voice.

You crawl underneath the blanket on your bed and glance over at Kite to see if he’s found a place to sleep. He lies on the l-shape couch with a pillow under his head, hat covering his face, and a medium size blanket tucked underneath his chin. Chrollo lies on the on the opposite side next to a nightlight that’s plug into a socket above, reading a small book that has a picture of a flower on the cover. There’s a blanket covering the lower part of his body, stopping a few inches before his feet.

Phinks climbs a ladder to the top bunk above you and moves around a few times before he finally lays in silence. Illumi and Feitan lay on the bunkbed across the room wrapped up in a blanket, snoring a little. It’s interesting to see the two passed out already since the lights were turned off a few seconds ago. The long trip from the island must have worn them out a little. They don’t seem like the type to be completely drained from a hectic day.

_In the morning, I need to ask a guard to escort me to the warden’s office so that I can talk to them about my living situation. I wasn’t expecting to share a small prison cell with seven other cellmates. Plus I need to investigate Bells whereabouts. Ken said that I might be able to find him in the library sometime around noon. I’ll stop by there tomorrow after lunch._

Who’s Bell? Are they the person spreading false rumors about you? How does Kite know Ken? They couldn’t have been on the same team because you didn’t see him at the house warming party. When did they come into contact?

“I’ll just have to follow you around tomorrow,” you whisper before closing your eyes.

~*~

You thought it was going to be the same routine the next day which consists of taking a shower, doing chores, and eating three meals; however, the opposite happened. The guards escort your group to an old theater room that’s located in the south wing. The air smells like dirt mixed with cheap perfume smokers usually spray to hide the cigarette smoke clinging to their clothes and there are stains on the seats, ranging in different shapes and sizes.

Instead of sitting in the empty front row, you sit in the back close to the nosebleed seats near a group of prisoners who keep glancing in your direction every so often. At first you think they are looking at Kite who’s sitting next to you but eventually, you realize what their eyes are locked on.

It’s on you.

More prisoners fill the seats until all are occupied and the guards stand in the aisle holding a gun. The lights dim until the room turns dark, making it hard for you to see anything. The sound of someone snickering nearby automatically makes you think of the morons who believe you’re sleeping with six dangerous criminals. Now, seven since Kite is the new cellmate.

 “Why are some prisoners whispering crude things about you? What did you do?” Kite whispers.

You roll your eyes. “Nothing, they think I’m banging my cellmates. Now you since…you know you’re new.”

“Does it upset you?”

“No.”

“You’re lying. Why did you glance over at them? Are you afraid their actions will take away your free time privileges?” Kite asks.

Well he got you there. The rumors bother you as much as being locked up inside a tiny cell with dangerous criminals. This entire situation doesn’t make any sense. Who thought it was a great idea to send a female to an all-male prison? Certainly it wasn’t a mistake? Or was it?

You sigh a little. “I don’t want false rumors spreading about me for personal reasons.”

_There’s more to her story but I won’t pry further into it. I have to investigate a rumor about Bell and it looks like a prisoner sitting nearby might have the answer I’m looking for. The only issue is finding time to speak to them. Whatever is about to happen on stage should last for at least an hour or so unless the program gets dragged out._

Who the hell is Bell? Now you really want to ask questions about this person.

You lean closer to Kite’s ear. “Do you think there’s someone in this prison who knows the person responsible for spreading rumors?”

Kite smirks. “The person responsible is Bell.”

~*~

Two hours later, you find yourself walking down a narrow hallway to the east wing of the prison which has the most deadly criminals. Supposedly this is where Bell is. Kite was told about their whereabouts from a prisoner sitting nearby after the warden’s speech. Well, after the warden had threatened take away everyone’s free time privileges for the rest of the year if an incident happens.

You pray no one does anything reckless otherwise you’ll go crazy if you have to stay locked up all day with the deadly criminals.

Kite stops in front of a prison cell at the end of the hallway where a tall prisoner who has long curly hair stands grinning hard like a fricking idiot. He glances at your face and slowly moves his eyes down toward your chest, clenching his jaw a little before whispering something vile underneath his breath.

_Well, well, well if it isn’t the whore of the prison. What the hell is she doing on this side? Ah she wants to talk to Bell about the nasty rumor. I don’t think he should help her if it’s true._

“How may I help you? Do you have an appointment with Bell?” the prisoner asks in a deep tone.

“No I don’t,” Kite says.

The prisoner points to the exit down the hallway. “I’m sorry but you’ll have to leave. Nobody speaks to Bell unless they have an appointment.”

Why does this prisoner speak so formal? Aren’t the prisoners supposed to be dangerous on this side of the prison?

“How do we make an appointment?” Kite asks.

The prisoner clicks his tongue. “You make an appointment with me and right now there isn’t any spots open. In fact there won’t be any spots open until next month. No, make that three months from now.”

“If someone cancels can we make an appointment?” you ask rudely.

The prisoner shrugs. “Maybe but that’s if someone cancels. Most of our clients don’t cancel because…well Bell is good at what he does.”

Yeah, Bell is good at spreading false rumors about people because he’s an ass who loves watching others suffer. It doesn’t make any sense why he goes through so much to gossip. It seems like such a hassle and a waste of time. Doesn’t he have more important things to do?

Oh, wait he wouldn’t because the warden keeps all of the prisoners locked in their prison cell unless they are granted free time. Now with the new warden, who knows the next you’ll see the outside of your cell. Might as well take advantage of it and speak to Bell before the guards come snipping at your heels.

A prisoner with long purple hair, green eyes, and dark skin pokes his head out the door, smiling widely as if he’s been expecting you. Something about him makes you feel very uncomfortable and slightly anxious. You can’t put your finger on what it is but the cold look in his eyes makes you believe that he won’t clear up the rumors. No, he’s probably going to ask for a favor before he does anything.

Perhaps another twisted game like the one you had participated in the hole?

Crap.

“Please come in,” the prisoner says in a gentle tone.

Kork looks at the prisoner with fire in his eyes. “Are you serious Bell? We don’t know if they are here to kill you or not. Isn’t it best if we…”

Bell narrows his eyes. “I said send them in.”

Kork points to the room and mutters another vile thing underneath his breath walking away. Inside it smells like vanilla mixed with lemon, a familiar scent that soothes your nostrils and makes your heart pump a little fast because it reminds you of your grandmother’s kitchen; a place where you ate a lot of sweets as a child while your parents were away on business trips.

Bell points to a loveseat in the corner of the room that has two heart shaped pillows on it and quilted blanket on the arm. You sit down next to Kite and look around the room for a few moments, eyeing the abstract paintings on the wall and the rather expensive wooden desk that has antique books on top. How he managed to get his hands on the books is a mystery. It’s possible he made a deal with one of the guards.

Bell sits down in a chair in front of the desk and opens up a small black book that has a list of people’s names inside. Next to each name is a number along with a happy or sad face. He flips to a page that has your name on it and snickers a little before looking over at you.

“We finally meet. I do have to apologize for my rude assistant. You see I have made some enemies in this prison ever since I started my little business and he’s afraid that you were going to kill me,” Bell takes a pen out of a pen case and taps it on the desk. “But whatever you think my business is, you’re wrong about it.”

You scoff. “Spreading rumors about others isn’t a business.”

Bell points his pen at you. “I knew you would say that. You think I’m the person responsible for spreading the nasty rumor about you aren’t you? I’m not. I heard about it from my assistant and I’m quite frankly amazed that the previous warden allowed its first female into the prison. I didn’t see that coming.”

“Wait, what do you mean the previous warden allowed its first female in the prison? I figure I was sent here by accident,” you answer quickly.

Bell shakes his head. “You were sent here on purpose. The previous warden wanted to make the prison co-ed but he wasn’t approved a high budget for his project so he decided to request for one female instead, well two if you count the other female that’s coming soon. Now since we have a new warden, I’m not sure if they will continue the project or trash it.”

Kite cups his chin. “Besides that, I’m here to collect information about a certain prisoner name M. I’m not for sure where they’re located in the prison but they have something for me.”

Bell points his pen at Kite. “Ah the undercover spy who’s trying to find the person responsible for getting him locked up. I heard that you killed as many people as the Phantom Troupe.”

“I didn’t kill anyone and that’s not why I’m looking for M,” Kite replies.

“Don’t lie to me; you’re looking for M because they are responsible for your long sentence in this hellhole. I know everything about every prisoner here. That includes your cellmates,” Bell turns away and begins jotting something down in the small black book. “I’ll clear up the rumor for you but I can’t promise it won’t resurface again.”

“Or you could just admit that you’re culprit,” you say.

Bell stops writing and looks over at you. “I told you that I’m not responsible for the rumors. Whether you believe me or not, it doesn’t concern me. What’s important is clearing up the rumor, giving information about M’s whereabouts and receiving payment for my services.”

What the hell is Bell talking about? What type of payment is he expecting for clearing up high school gossip and telling Kite the whereabouts to a person who may or may not exist?

Bell is full of crap.

“What do you want as payment? I have two cash cards on me,” Kite reaches into his pocket and pulls out two cards to show Bell. Bell makes a humming noise before jotting something down again. “I don’t eat that much so I’m willing to give you my sweets and some fruits.”

“That will do. What about your cellmate? What will she give me?” Bell asks.

You don’t want to give him anything at all but that rumor has to disappear. You wonder if it’s possible to give him something else as payment. Sex, dirty pictures, and giving away your sweets aren’t an option. There has to be something that he wants.

“Why don’t you allow me to work for you?” you blurt out.

Bell raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me? You want to work for me?” He shakes his head and laughs a little. “I’m sorry but the type of business I’m involved in is very dangerous. I don’t want your delicate hands dirtied.”

_This woman doesn’t understand the type of business I’m involved in. She would have to deliver mail and other things to inmates throughout the prison. Some of my customers are quite deadly and rude. Lately, I haven’t been able to get any new customers because they want to be greeted by a beautiful person. Kork isn’t the best looking. Hmm, maybe I could send this woman and her cellmates. They are gorgeous after all. If I did that, my business would blossom._

Bell sets his pen down on the desk. “You know what; I would love it if you were to work for me. Why don’t you start tomorrow after breakfast? I want you to bring Kite and another cellmate?”

“Just one?” you ask.

“Yes one. I don’t care who it is,” Bell picks up his pen and points to the door. “Make sure you close my door on your way out.”

This guy is such an ass.

~*~

Phinks slams his hands on the coffee table, rattling the cups, plates, and water pitcher on top. He doesn’t want to be Bell’s delivery boy or whatever the hell nickname he might receive for helping out. A thief who’s a member in the Phantom Troupe doesn’t work for others. If there’s something that he wants, he steals it.

You roll your eyes as Phinks throws a tantrum like child who can’t eat candy before dinner. It’s understandable that he doesn’t want to do anything because he’s a lazy ass but making a huge deal over it is silly. He should be grateful that you asked for his help first before approaching the others.

“I told you we’ll help him with one or two things. That’s it,” you say propping your feet up on the coffee table.

Phinks clenches and unclenches his jaw. “Did he say what other things we’ll have to deliver?”

“We can ask him tomorrow.”

“You better hope we deliver expensive items so that I can…”

You narrow your eyes. “Steal it for dear old Chrollo? You’re not going to do that all as long as I’m working for Bell. Find someone else to steal from.”

“You can’t tell me what to do!”

“I know I can’t but maybe I can do something to change your mind,” you blurt out.

Do what exactly? What does Phinks really want besides sex and seeing your naked body?

Phinks swallows hard. “What…what exactly are you going to do?”

_Is she going to take off her clothes? No, no, no! She’s not going to do that. Or is she? She looks so good right now wearing the prison uniform. I really like how it outlines her body. Yeah, I wonder what type of underwear she’s wearing. Stop it! Stop being a pervert!_

Good grief Phinks! Could he stop having dirty thoughts about you every second? One of the reasons why you dislike conversing with him is because of his thoughts. They don’t turn you on nor are they interesting. You much rather listen to Hisoka’s thoughts all day, and they are much worse than the crap the blonde thinks of.

“Why don’t I take you out on a nice date? They are giving us free time later and I thought maybe we could spend it in the lounge room alone,” you try to say in a calm tone.

Phinks eyes widen. “Uh…yeah…uh…sure…uh…”

_Did she just ask me out? This can’t be real. There’s no way that she just asked me out on a date. A beautiful woman like her doesn’t date deadly criminals like me. She’s just messing around. I’m not an idiot. I’m not going to say yes even though I just said yes. Crap. What the hell am I going to wear? Maybe Hisoka has something nice? What am I saying? We all have the same colored uniform. I can’t wear something nice. Crap! I better brush my teeth and put gel in my hair. Maybe I’ll bring a condom just in case something happens._

You want to run out of the room screaming or request to transfer to a new prison cell. Why in the hell did you think it was a good idea to ask the horndog out on a date? Now he believes you’re going to screw him in the lounge room.

Crap.

It looks like it time for plan B.

~*~

“Hisoka are you free later on tonight?” you watch the magician fold his clothes neatly on the bed. It’s interesting to see him do something that doesn’t involve bloodshed or calling others unripe fruit. He just might have a nonviolent side.

Yeah, right!

 “It’s quite possible. Why so interested?” Hisoka replies in a teasing tone.

You sigh hard. “I want to go on a date with you. I was thinking about heading over to the lounge later on. Maybe we could…” Don’t tell him that you want to cuddle on the couch or stare into each other’s eyes until the guards kick you out of the room. It’s a lie. “I wouldn’t mind hearing more about your bungee gum.”

What the hell! You don’t want to hear anything about his bungeegum or how many people he’s called an unripe fruit. Hell you don’t even want to ask him out on a date in the first place but having him in the same room as Phinks will make you feel comfortable.

No, that’s a lie. It’s going to make you feel extremely uncomfortable. Thinking about being in a small room with the two sociopaths makes you want to bang your head against the wall for coming up with such a stupid idea.

When will you ever learn?

“Well I guess I could talk about my bunge…”

“Great, I’ll see you in the lounge later,” you interrupt him quickly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like. :)


	10. Chapter 10

 

“Are you insane? Do you really believe that he’s going to erase the nasty rumor about you with a snap of his fingers? It’s not going to happen. You should stay far away from him,” Phinks says sitting down on the couch next to you. He crosses his leg before clicking his tongue. “Kite should have stopped you from seeing him. He should have…”

You hold your hand up to silence him. “Kite had to discuss an important issue with Bell as well. Besides, if we do a small favor for him, it gives us time away from the prison cell which is good because we’ll get more free time.”

“Free time huh?” Phinks rubs his chin slowly while looking over at Hisoka who’s sitting on a stool across from you. He watches the magician make several cards appear in his hands, only to make them disappear in a flash. “How much free time would we get?”

You shrug. “Don’t know, but since Bell is close to the guards, I’m sure he could work something out. Besides…”

You stop talking because the next words that may come out of your mouth will give the two sociopaths a clue about why you’re for locked up. Well, it won’t explain why you’re in an all-male prison. That part is a mystery although Bell mentioned that the previous warden sent you to the prison for an experiment. It makes you wonder what exactly they were trying to achieve by having one female in a tiny room with six deadly criminals.

It doesn’t make any sense.

Hisoka makes two cards appear in his hand only to make them disappear in an instant. He hasn’t said anything ever since he’s came to the room which is strange since he’s usually chatty. His silence makes goosebumps appear on your arms and sweat claim a place on your forehead and armpits. It feels as if you’re about to have an anxiety attack at any moment if the magician doesn’t open up his mouth.

Would he just say something? It doesn’t matter what it is. Well, technically it does matter. You don’t want him to call you his special fruit or some other bizarre nickname.

“Hey, uh, Hisoka, do you mind coming with us to see Bell? He wants me to bring back one cellmate but I think….” You trail off right as Hisoka makes eye contact with you.

“This person name Bell, what exactly do they want you to do? The reason why I’m asking is…well I’ve overhead something quite interesting from another prisoner. Apparently, there’s a fight club somewhere in this prison and the person you’re making a deal with, runs it. It makes me wonder…” Hisoka looks at the card in his hand carefully before placing it against his bottom lip. “Will he blackmail you for asking him to erase a rumor that may or may not be true? I could see him purposely spreading another rumor about you so that you’ll join the fight club.”

Phinks nods his head. “Now that I think about it, Hisoka might be right. This entire situation doesn’t seem right. What the hell did you get yourself into?”

“I told you already, he asked me to do a favor for him as a way to pay for his service. I’m not sure what it is but I’m not going to allow him to blackmail me. I just want him to get rid of the nasty rumor floating around the prison. I need it gone, otherwise, I’ll be stuck…” you clamp your mouth shut before more words spill out.

Hisoka chuckles a little while staring at you with fire in his eyes. The look makes you uneasy a little because it seems the magician is exuberant about the situation. It makes you wonder if he’s planning something destructive so that Bell won’t get rid of the nasty rumor.

Asking the crazy magician to join you wasn’t a good idea.

“I’m going with you,” Hisoka stands up and walks over to the door. He places his hand on the doorknob and squeezes it tightly until his knuckles turn red before opening it. “Just know that there’s more to Bell that he’s not telling you.”

~*~

You, Hisoka, and Phinks meet Kite in front of Bell’s prison cell the next day. He stands near the door with his arms crossed, eyes closed, and mouth clamp shut as if he’s trying to prevent secrets from escaping. As soon as you approach him, he opens his eyes quickly and stares at you for a few moments before looking away without saying a word.

“Where’s Bell?” Phinks asks.

“He’s late,” Kite replies without making eye contact. He walks over to the door and knocks on it a few times.

There’s no response.

“Maybe he’s eating breakfast or he forgot that we were coming,” you mutter looking down the hallway to see if a guard is coming.

There are only a few prisoners standing out in front of their prison cell chatting quietly while holding bottles of water in their hand.

  _That seems doubtful. He probably didn’t want to work with her in the first place. I knew there’s something fishy about this entire situation. It’s best that we return to our prison cell before…_

Phinks trails off when two guards enter the hallway carrying a bucket full of cleaning supplies, sponges and rags. One guard sets the bucket on the floor in front of the prison cell, pulls a set of keys out of their pocket, and unlocks the door quickly before taking a step inside. You take a step back, holding your breath as you watch the other guard pick up the bucket off the floor and enter the cell.

Hisoka pokes his head into the room fast before the guards shoo him away. As he walks past you toward the exit, a devious grin appears on his face. He saw something inside the room that perks his interest. As to what it is, you’re unsure. You try to take a peek but one of the guards slams the door shut on your face.

~*~

Hours later, you help your cellmates clean the second floor in the library with some other prisoners who are very uncooperative. Every time you ask them to put away the books on the floor or clean the dirt off the windows, they mutter something underneath their break while staring at you like freakin high school students. It pisses you off but there’s nothing you can do it about it except continue to clean.

The only issue is you can’t focus on cleaning ever since your trip to Bell’s prison cell. Something tells you that he’s no longer inside the prison or that he’s dead. The only way to find out is by going back to his cell when the guards aren’t roaming the hallways.

Maybe you can do it later on tonight right before the guards turn off the lights. Lying that you need to take a shower because you smell due to peeping or crapping yourself might work; however, it shouldn’t come down to that unless there’s no other option to escape the prison cell.

Crap.

_She’s been staring at the same book on the shelf for the past ten minutes. What is she thinking about? Is she that upset about the nasty rumor? Why? If I were in her shoes, I would ignore it and move on with my life. There’s definitely more going on with her. The so called date yesterday wasn’t what I had expected. It was probably the worst date. Maybe I’ll ask her out on another date tonight._

Wait. That just might work. If Phinks asks you out on a date, you can visit Bell’s prison cell without raising any suspicion. According to one prisoner, whom you overhead during breakfast in the cafeteria, that the guards allow two or three prisoners to patrol the hallways at night after the lights are turned off. The prisoners are responsible for making sure others haven’t escaped their cell since sometimes the doors don’t lock properly. The shift usually last for about three hours with two fifteen minute breaks in-between.

It looks like things might work out.

~*~

“Did you find out what happened to Bell?” you ask Kite grabbing a bottle of coke from the refrigerator and plopping down on the couch next to him. He closes the book in his hand and places it on his lap. “I’m planning on visiting his prison cell later on tonight. I’m going to volunteer for night patrol.”

“Did you sign up for it weeks in advance?”

“No, I was thinking about talking to our guard.”

Kite sighs a little. “You have to sign up for night patrol at least four weeks in advance otherwise you can’t do it.”

That’s not good. What are you supposed to do now? If you can’t patrol the hallway tonight, trying to stop by his prison cell tomorrow might work. That’s if the guards don’t stop you.

You need another plan to get on night patrol.

~*~

The sound of someone coughing inside of their cell makes your heart beat fast as you walk down the dim light hallway toward Bell’s cell. The smell of cigarettes fill your nostrils with an unpleasant scent that makes you want to gag. Breathing in and out a few times makes your nausea disappear which is good because if you vomit on the squeaky clean floor, the guards will make you clean it up with a toothbrush and a bucket of hot soapy water.

Kite and Hisoka walk behind you quickly with their hands in their pockets. Phinks was supposed to come but you told him to stay inside the prison cell since wondering the hallways with a large group would alert the guards immediately. Even though you’ve were granted permission to do night patrol with two cellmates, adding one more would cause an issue because the guards are afraid that four prisoners might try to escape the prison. It doesn’t make any sense since three prisoners could try to escape as well but they don’t find it threatening.

“What did you see inside of Bell’s cell?” you whisper to Hisoka.

Hisoka chuckles a little. “You’ll find out for yourself. I can’t give away every secret.”

Kite clicks his tongue. “Would you just tell us what you saw? We don’t have time for one of your games considering that we only have an hour until this patrol ends.”

“If I told you, what are you going to do?” Hisoka asks in a teasing tone.

“Just tell us,” Kite raises his voice a little

“You make it seem like Bell was transferred to another prison cell or…” you trail off when an image of the two guards carrying buckets filled with cleaning supplies flashes into your mind. The only reason they would clean a prison cell is because a prisoner moved out or they were killed.

Wait. Wait. Does that mean Bell is no longer in the prison? That can’t be! Surely that can’t be! You need Bell to get rid of the nasty rumor. If he doesn’t, you’ll stay inside of this filthy perverted prison forever until your hair turns white and you go insane from being around your obnoxious cellmates.

This can’t be true!

You stop walking and spin around so fast that you almost fall on the floor. “Bell’s gone isn’t he? Isn’t he! Isn’t he?!”

“It’s possible,” Hisoka replies.

_My special fruit is all riled up because I won’t tell her what I really saw inside of his room. The look on her face is turning me on. It’s such a shame she’s not a ripe fruit yet otherwise I would kill her right now. But I can’t. I must wait for the fruit to ripen. Until then, I’ll keep myself entertain by not telling her the truth._

Kite steps in front of Hisoka and crosses his arms. “Stop playing games and tell us what happened to Bell.”

“I can’t tell you because I don’t know what happened to them. Why don’t you ask the guards? I’m sure they have more information,” Hisoka looks past Kite to you, grinning hard.

_Oohh, my special fruit looks extremely pissed off right now. It’s a good thing we’re standing underneath a dim light otherwise she would be able to see how hard I am. I want to destroy her so badly and watch her blood paint the walls and the floor. I need to stay calm. Yes. I have to stay calm._

As much as you hate Hisoka, it seems like he’s telling the truth but he’s still hiding vital information about what he had seen inside of Bell’s prison cell. Something definitely happened. Why else would he purposely tease you? Everything that he does, there’s a reason behind it. In this case, he’s finding ways to ease his boredom until he makes his next move.

Crap.

“What did you see inside of his prison cell?” Kite asks sternly.

Hisoka walks past Kite down the hallway to the door at the end and places his hand on the door knob. He chuckles again, this time in a low tone that makes goosebumps on your arms. You watch him open up the door with your fists clenched, biting your bottom lip until you taste blood. Part of you wants to grab him by the collar and shake the truth out of him but the other half says to leave him alone. The truth will surface eventually.

You just need to be patient and wait for the second act to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like. :)


	11. Chapter 11

 

“Did you hear that Bell is dead? The bastard had it coming to him,” a prisoner says picking up a large bag of trash off the floor. His shaggy blue hair bounces a little as he slings the bag over his shoulder. “Who do you think killed him? Perhaps Kork did it?”

“Doubt it. Kork is faithful to Bell. If anyone killed him, it was probably somebody in the east wing since he has a lot of enemies there,” another prisoner says. He has shaggy hair like the other prisoner but the only difference is that his hair is orange and black. He picks up a small bag of trash off the floor and slings it over his shoulder. “Too be honest, it’s probably good that he’s dead since he’s responsible for half of the rumors floating around this hell hole.”

You narrow your eyes as you pick up a rag inside of bucket of hot soapy water and wipe off a table in the corner of the cafeteria. There are a few prisoners cleaning tables across the room. They occasionally glance at you and whisper something to each other as if they are plotting something horrendous.

What’s their problem? Why do they keep glancing at you? Do they suspect that you had something to do with Bell’s death?

What a bunch of morons.

 “Why does it matter anyway? It’s not like I care,” you mutter tossing the rag into the bucket. Water splashes on the floor and flows underneath the table. As you look around for a mop to clean up the mess, you spot Hisoka standing in the corner with his arms crossed, staring at you carefully. “Great, another person who wants to stare at me.”

Could this day get any worse?

“What are you doing here? Better yet, why aren’t you cleaning the shower room with the other cellmates?” you ask Hisoka as he makes his way over to you grinning hard like a madman. “Please don’t do anything stupid to get us in trouble. I don’t want to lose my free time privileges.”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question? After all, people suspect that you killed Bell,” Hisoka says in a teasing tone that makes your blood boil.

What the hell is he talking about? Why would anyone suspect that you killed Bell? You barely knew the guy and don’t have any grudges that would cause you to plunge a knife into his chest. Sure he may have spread a nasty rumor about you, even though he says that he didn’t, but that doesn’t mean you want to shed his blood.

Someone definitely wants to piss you off by telling everyone that you killed Bell. To think that the prisoners are drinking up their lie like a bottle of wine is amazing and terrifying because they’re grown ass men. Shouldn’t they form their own opinion or at least investigate before labeling you guilty?

Geeze, you can’t wait to escape this place. It’s a like a high school except worse.

“I don’t care what people think,” you finally say after a few moments.

Hisoka narrows his eyes. “Yes you do. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have visited Bell and asked him to clear the rumor let alone agree to be his lap dog.”

You clench and unclench your jaw. “Excuse me? I’m no one’s lap dog! I agreed to help him because I thought he would clear the rumor quickly. That’s all.”

“And look what happened,” he says placing his hands on his hip. He leans forward a little until his face is inches away from yours. There’s a small hint of strawberry on breath as he opens his mouth to speak again. “I know my special fruit wouldn’t harm a fly let alone take another person’s life. It’s one of the reasons why I haven’t killed you yet because I want to see you ripen into a beautiful fruit.”

Besides the disturbing nickname that’s he’s given you, he is partially correct. It’s true that you wouldn’t take another person’s life but an insect’s is a different story. You can’t imagine plunging a knife into someone’s chest. It’s not worth it and you don’t have the balls to do it unless the situation requires you too.

You pray that day never comes.

The prisoner with shaggy blue hair walks over to you rubbing his hands together. “Are you finished cleaning the tables? We need to finish up so that we can make it back to our cells soon before the lights are turned off.”

“Why did you say that Bell or whatever his name is dead?” you ask pretending to not know who Bell is. The more information you can get about the situation, the better it helps you figure out what’s going on.

The prisoner crosses his arms. “What do you mean why did I say that?” He scoffs a little. “Let me guess, you haven’t heard the exciting news that the evil witch is dead? I’m surprised you haven’t heard it yet.”

Nope, no one has told you anything. Not that anyone would because they think you’re sleeping with your cellmates; in addition, your cellmates scare the crap out of everyone since they’re dangerous criminals who should be chained down inside of a prison cell deep underneath the prison.

“Why is there so much attention for one prisoner? I’m sure other prisoners have died yet I haven’t heard anything about them,” Hisoka says.

“For one, Bell is on death row and two, his business kept this prison interesting and less boring. Let’s just say, spreading rumors about others or running an errand for the guy kept people from going insane. While some liked it, others hated it to the point they wanted to slit his throat. Apparently Bell had spread some nasty rumors about some of the prisoners in the west wing. If there’s one rule in this prison to follow, it’s to never mess with anyone in the west wing,” the prisoner says shaking his head.

“Oh? Why’s that?” Hisoka asks.

The prisoner tenses up, eyes wide and nostrils flare, before he speaks again. “From what I was told, the prisoners in the west wing are some of the nastiest, most dangerous criminals. I heard guards complain about patrolling the hallways because they get freaked out whenever someone coughs or breathes. I’ve never met anyone from there so I’m not for sure what they look like.”

If what he’s saying is true, than it seems like someone from the west wing had killed Bell over a rumor. You wonder what the rumor was that it drove someone to end the guy’s life. It had to be bad, much worse than the rumor about you. To think that there’s deadlier criminals than your cellmates make goosebumps on your arms.

“Is there anyone taking over Bell’s business?” you ask pushing the dreading thoughts out of your mind.

The prisoner shrugs. “I don’t know. Its possible Kork will take over. It’s also possible that the business won’t reopen ever again.”

“I’m fine with that, maybe I can get some peace and quiet for once,” you say walking over to a closet in the corner of the room to get a mop. There’s none inside except for dirty rags on a shelf that smell like they’ve been dipped into sewage. You hold your breath as you shut the door and walk back over to Hisoka and the prisoner.

Hisoka picks up your bucket off the floor and points to the door, grinning a little. “Perhaps it’s time for us to leave. The lights will be out soon.”

Normally the guards turn off the lights at night but ever since there have been various fights in different wings, they’ve been turning off the lights in the hallway in the afternoon, making it pitch black and impossible to see where you’re stepping. The only way to move around the prison cell without tripping over anything is to use the light shining from the night light above the couch. It reaches up to the toilet and sometimes further depending on where it’s plugged into the wall.

You clean up your mess off the floor and head back to the prison cell with Hisoka quietly because you’re too focus on trying to figure out who had killed Bell and how to get rid of the rumor. Anxious thoughts flood your mind, causing a throbbing headache that feels like someone is hammering nails into your skull. You rub your temples as you enter the prison cell and plop down your bed.

“What’s up with you?” Feitan asks looking down from bunk above you. He wrinkles his nose a little. “Did Hisoka say something disturbing to piss you off?”

“It’s nothing. I’m a little tired,” you lie pulling the blanket over your head. “I’m going to take a nap. Don’t wake me up unless the place is burning down.”

“I’m going to take a nap myself since the lights will be off in a few minutes,” Illumi says.

You peek out from under the blanket to see Illumi sitting on the bottom bunk across from you brushing his long hair while staring at something on the floor. He makes eye contact with you for a few seconds before looking back at the floor again. This time his pupils widen until there isn’t any white left.

If aliens live on Earth, Illumi is definitely one of them. How else do you explain his dead fish eyes?

After a few minutes, the lights go out in the room and everyone becomes quiet; extremely quiet that you can hear water dripping from the faucet into the sink. Normally your cellmates argue with each other about something stupid, but today they’re behaving like normal people.

You close your eyes and attempt to take a nap while praying the rumor about you dies with Bell forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like. :)


	12. Chapter 12

 

 

The smell of eggs and toast wake you up from a deep sleep that seemed more of a nightmare than anything else. You don’t normally have nightmares, but for some reason you had one last night. It started out normal in which you were eating dinner with your mother and father but then it became bizarre; really bizarre. There were flying purple cats and pigs the size of humans. After you had finished eating dinner, you’re mothers eyes turned red and she started screaming at you for not taking out a large bag of trash that smelled like rotting flesh.

The last time you had a nightmare was two months before you were hauled off to prison. It didn’t have flying purple cats or pigs the size of humans. No. It had six fluffy cats that spat venom out of their mouth whenever they meowed.

“Good morning, you better eat breakfast before Hisoka does,” Kaito says looking down at you with a serious expression on his face. There are sleeping bags underneath his eyes and what appears to be a small bruise on his forehead. He touches your leg gently with his hand. “Would you like me to put your plate in the refrigerator?”

You blink several times and yawn. “No, it’s fine. I’ll eat it.”

You slowly get out of bed and sit down on the couch next to Chrollo and Hisoka. Phinks, Shalnark, Illumi, and Feitan sit on the floor around the coffee table shoving food into their mouth quickly as if they haven’t eaten in a week. The sight makes you cringe and slightly irritated because pieces of eggs fall out of their mouth and onto the floor as they shove more into it. You pick up your fork and avert your eyes to a small plate on the coffee table in front of you that has some eggs, toast, and a banana on it.

“There’s a rumor going around that you killed Bell. Why would anyone think that? I thought you weren’t able to talk to him because he was killed already?” Phinks says scooping up more eggs on his spoon before shoving it into his mouth. He chews fast and swallows. “To be honest I think it’s a good thing he’s dead. Maybe the Phantom Troupe can start a business and gain his customers.”

You narrow your eyes. “What business? Oh wait, stealing and killing people? That doesn’t sound like a good business.”

“Bell was doing the same thing except worse since he doesn’t trust anyone. At least the Phatom Troupe members trust each other,” Shalnark mentions.

So what if the Phantom Troupe members trust each other. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Starting a dangerous business will only attract unwanted attention such as the prisoners in the south wing. If they come to this side of the prison, all hell would break lose because Hisoka is bound to fight one of them.

“I like the idea of starting our own business; however, we need to be cautious of what kind of customers we’ll attract,” Chrollo says setting his spoon on the coffee table. He picks up his glass of milk and takes a sip. “We need a few days to set up shop and think of reasonable prices to charge our customers.”

You raise your hands up in the air. “Hold on, hold on! I don’t think starting a stealing and killing business is a good idea. For one, someone else might be doing it and we’ll probably piss them off and two, I don’t want smelly, obnoxious prisoners in our prison cell snooping around.”

“We wouldn’t bring them to our prison cell to discuss business. Most likely we’ll meet in the cafeteria or the library. There is a small study room on the third floor that nobody uses,” Shalnark says in a matter of fact tone.

“I prefer to have them meet us here so that if they try anything, I can kill them without anyone knowing,” Illumi says tilting his head to the side. He closes his eyes and laughs a little. “I might be able to make a lot of money assassinating while everyone else steals items.”

Feitan crosses his arms. “Danchou, I think we should have the prisoners come to our prison cell to discuss business. It will deduce suspicion just in case a guard inquiries about it.”

Running a business in the study room would send red flags to the guards since technically starting a killing and stealing business is illegal. The only reason Bell was able to do it because he’s close to some of the guards and the warden doesn’t check up on any activity around the prison.

If the Phantom Troupe starts a business, they would need to be very discrete about it and pray that the guards don’t catch on to the illegal activities. You’re against the idea of prisoners requesting help from your cellmates; however, one of them might know what really happened to Bell and if the nasty rumor has stopped spreading around like a deadly virus.

“On second thought, I don’t mind if you bring the prisoners here. They can sit on the couch and Illumi can serve them a drink and a snack,” you say staring at the assassin grinning a little.

Illumi raises an eyebrow. “Why do I have to serve drinks and snacks? I think it should be Feitan sor Kaito since they won’t be doing anything to contribute to the business.”

Feitan bares his teeth. “Excuse me?”

“Illumi, it’s not guaranteed that a prisoner will hire you to assassinate someone. For all we know, they might want things stolen or simply hire one of us to be their bodyguard. You do realize there are some prisoners who are bullied on daily basis and seek protection but are too afraid to ask,” Kaito says picking up toast off his plate and taking a small bite.

“Being a bodyguard doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Phinks says before looking over at Chrollo. “Our business will include stealing, assassination, and bodyguard. If someone needs to talk about their personal problems they would have to seek help elsewhere.”

“Actually, they can talk to me about their problems,” you say stabbing some eggs with your fork. You lift it to your lips and place it in your mouth slowly while starring at Phinks. The taste of salt and pepper fills your mouth as you chew it.

“Why do you want to talk to the prisoners?” Chrollo asks standing up holding his plate in one hand. He walks over to the sink and washes it. “It’s not like they’ll tell you their deepest darkest secrets so easily. You have to be willing to do a favor for them.”

Of course you know that you have to be willing to do a favor for them but that doesn’t mean you’ll actually do it. They might be able to give you information about Bell’s death before that happens.

No, they aren’t going to give you information about Bell’s death easily. Knowing that the prisoners think you’re shacking up with your cellmates, they’ll probably ask for juicy stories about how many times you’re having sex a day.

Screw that but it will be interesting to lie about your sex sessions though.

Maybe this business idea isn’t so bad after all.

~*~

Your first customer is a prisoner who’s small, chubby, has shaggy hair and a mole underneath his eye. His uniform is wrinkly and there’s food stains on his right sleeve. He sits on the couch crossed leg very quietly and bites his bottom lip sometimes. He looks over at you twiddling his thumbs for a few seconds before speaking.

“So, um…I’m not for sure if I’m at the right place or not but…um…I have a favor to ask and I’m willing to pay you anything to get it done,” he says shyly but carefully as if he’s practiced saying the words over and over for a play. He swallows hard before speaking again. “How much do you charge to assassinate someone?”

Crap, you weren’t expecting to get a customer so soon since Hisoka and Chrollo had just told a few prisoners in the cell block about the new business. Word really does get around fast in this prison. It can either be a good or a bad thing. Good in this case since it’s helping out the business.

Okay, now to tell the prisoner the assassination fee. How much would Illumi charge them? 7 billion jenny or 9 billion jenny?

“It’s 8 billion jenny per person. We can give you discount if you want more than 20 people killed,” you say nodding your head.

The prisoner starts twiddling his thumbs again. “Oh…um…okay…actually I was wondering if you could do it for 500 jenny because…well…you see I want you to assassinate…um…me.”

Wait, what? He wants someone to kill him? What the hell? Why does he want to die? Is he in trouble with someone or does he simply hate his life so much in prison that he wants a quick death to end his misery?

Something’s fishy about this.

“I’m sorry what did you just say? You want us to assassinate you?” you say slowly, carefully, letting the words roll off your tongue.

“Ye…Yes…please kill me,” he says with fire in his eyes. He reaches his hands out to you and pleads some more. “Please…please…please….”

This is getting extremely weird. Either this guy is joking around or he really wants someone to slice his throat open. There’s no way in hell Illumi would ever agree to ending his life for a low price.

You swallow hard as you stand up slowly. “I’m sorry but I don’t think we can help you. Maybe you shoul….”

The prisoner stops pleading and bursts out laughing hysterically like a mad man. He sits back against the couch and laughs harder until tears stream down his face. You sit back down on the couch frowning a little because you’re not for sure whats going on. They must be having a psychotic breakdown since they don’t want to die. That’s the only reason for their sudden outburst.

“You really are stupid. Did you really think I came here to ask the psycho assassin to kill me? Hell no. I mostly wanted to see your reaction and it worked,” the prisoner says wiping tears off his face. He laughs again. “To be honest I really came here because I want to pay you to kiss one of your cellmates. I’m not talking about a simple peck on the lips. No, I want French kissing.”

“I’m sorry but we can’t accept that request,” you say angrily.

This perverted bastard is starting to piss you off. How dare he come to your prison cell and make a ridiculous request. He’s out of his freaking mind!

The prisoner crosses his arms and grins a little. “I don’t see why you won’t do it. I’m willing to pay you at least 5 billion jenny to kiss one of your cellmates and if I’m lucky, I want to watch you suc…”

You kick the edge of the coffee table hard. “Get out right now!” You get off the couch and storm over to the door gritting your teeth and point to the hallway. “Get out right now before I kill you!”

Just as the prisoner gets off the couch, Chrollo, Illumi, Kaito, and Hisoka enter the prison cell chatting about something but stop as soon as they see you and the prisoner. The prisoner sits back down on the couch even though you had told him to leave, pissing you off even more, and waves your obnoxious cellmates over to him.

“Hello, your rude cellmate refuses to do business with me even though I told her that I’m willing to pay at least 5 billion jenny. I’ll make it 6 billion jenny if you agree to my request right now,” he says twiddling his thumbs again.

Hisoka raises an eyebrow. “Oh, what’s your request?”

The prisoner clears his throat. “I have a rather…hmm…how should I put it…strange request. I want to watch you kiss her. I don’t care who does it. Hell, all of you could do it and it will make me happy.”

That’s it this bastard is taking things way too far. He needs to leave before you break his nose.

“Don’t listen to him, he’s talking nonsense and isn’t serious,” you say snapping your fingers and pointing to the door again, hoping the prisoners understands that you want him to leave right now. “We don’t accept reques…”

“I’ll do it. I’ve been paid to only assassinate but never to kiss someone. What else do you want me to do?” Illumi asks in a cold joyful tone. You want to kick him in the balls for agreeing to the prisoner’s sick twisted request.

The prisoner claps his hands together. “Oh wow, I wasn’t expecting anyone to actually agree to it. This is great. No, this is awesome! Let’s see…um…I want to watch you go on date with her and pretend you’re a happy yet dysfunctional married couple.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a folded piece of paper and holds it up in the air for everyone to see. “I wrote down some scenarios that I’d like you to act out.”

“Why do you want to watch us kiss her and pretend that we’re a married couple? Are you one of those perverts who gets off on this? If that’s the case I’m going to ask you to leave. It’s disrespectful to her and to us,” Kaito says sternly.

The prisoner shakes his head. “Oh, I’m sorry maybe I should have explained myself more. I’m a novelist who writes romance and sometimes erotic stories. I’m having writers block for my next book and so sometimes to get ideas, I ask people to act out different scenarios that I create. If you don’t want to do it, I can always ask someone else.”

Is he seriously a novelist or just some pervert?

“Interesting, what are the other scenarios that you wrote?” Hisoka asks placing his hands on his hip.

“Hmm, well, one scenario involves angry sex in the cafeteria while the other is shower sex,” the priosners says continuing to hold up the paper for everyone to see.

As soon as he says sex, you know the situation just got worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like. :)


	13. Chapter 13

 

 

“Are you serious? Why would you agree to act out that pervert’s scenarios?” Phinks asks slamming his hand down hard on the pool table. Some pool balls roll away from his hand and crash into other pool balls, scattering them in different directions. He picks up one pool ball and squeezes it in his hand tightly until his knuckles turn red. “I understand that you are trying to find out if the rumor has disappeared but doing it this way isn’t a smart idea. What if he asks you to actually have sex in one of the empty prison cells?”

Even if the guy does ask you have sex in some dirty prison cell that smells like piss and rotten fish, it doesn’t mean that you’ll actually do it. Phinks needs to calm down and trust that the novelist will give you some information about the rumor and Bell’s death. If they don’t, you can always pester another prisoner and hope they spill the beans.

“I want to see if he wants me to assassinate anyone. It’s one of the reasons why I agreed to do it in the first place. I’m getting low on cash and I doubt anyone here has enough money to purchase bathroom supplies and cleaning supplies for next month,” Illumi says picking up a pool stick from underneath the pool table.

“I have some cash left that I can use to pay for things around the prison cell,” Kaito says leaning over the pool table, eyeing the pool balls carefully. He looks up at Phinks and lowers his voice. “You shouldn’t say what we’re doing for the novelist out loud. Some of the prisoners in this room might get the wrong idea. It’s enough already they think we’re sleeping with the only female in this hell hole.”

Phinks’s cheeks turn red a little. “I know that you idiot! The point is you shouldn’t have agreed to do it in the first place. You make it seem like you actually want to act out those scenarios.”

_And to think that half of the scenarios are sex scenes in strange places around the prison. I almost choked on my spit when I read that one sex scene is inside of the abandoned shower in the east wing. That place is full of rodents and mold. I wouldn’t want to take anyone there to have sex. I much rather do it inside of the prison cell where we can have privacy. I would light some candles and play jazz music while I explored every inch of their body._

You almost choke on your own spit from Phinks thoughts and try to get rid of the image of him naked above some poor person’s body inside the prison cell while crappy jazz music blasts from an unknown device since there isn’t a radio, cellphone, or stereo.  It makes you wonder if he’ll steal a device from another prison cell or buy one from the store even though it costs over 70,000 jenny.

Phinks’s ultimate plan to get laid isn’t going to work unless he convinces someone to screw his brains out. You can’t see anyone agreeing to have sex with him unless he somehow grew eyebrows and stopped biting people’s head off whenever they say something he doesn’t like.

“How do you know if he has information about Bell’s death?” Chrollo asks walking over to the pool table with his hands inside his pants pockets. He stops a few inches away from the pool table and leans over a little to study the pool balls. “Why don’t you give this rumor thing a rest? It seems tiring to storm around the prison searching for an answer that might not be there.”

“I’m not expecting you to understand why I’m doing this but I have a reason,” you say angrily.

Chrollo leans away from the pool table. “What is your reason?”

“It doesn’t matter what my reason is,” you reply rudely.

“Your reason affects all of us because if something happens to Chrollo, I won’t forgive you,” Phinks snaps.

“Calm down Phinks, nothing is going to happen. Even if someone tried to attack Chrollo, he can handle himself,” Kaito says aiming his pool stick at the number six ball carefully. He hits the ball and it crashes into the number eight ball, forcing it into an empty pocket. “Darn it.”

“What time does this so called novelist want us to meet him?” Feitan asks picking up a pool ball to examine it before tossing it on the pool table. It makes it a loud thumping noise and rolls toward a group of balls and breaks them apart, scattering them in different directions. “Are we meeting him inside of his cell or ours?”

“He wants to meet inside of his prison cell this evening,” Shalnark answers sitting down on a chair across from the pool table. He crosses his leg and laughs a little. “Danchou, why don’t we steal everything inside his room? Better yet why don’t I turn him into my puppet?”

_I need a new puppet to play with. It’s a shame Bell is dead otherwise I would have turned him into my puppet and controlled his business. I bet he had a lot of valuable items inside his prison cell. I wonder if they are locked up inside of the evidence room at the police station or in the warden’s office. I’ll have to make a trip to the office sometime later this week._

Sometimes you wonder if Shalnark is joking or if he’s serious about turning people into his puppet since he hasn’t done it yet. He’s had plenty of opportunities to turn a prisoner into his a puppet during breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the cafeteria but he chooses to ignore them as if they don’t exist. Maybe he’s looking for the perfect person to turn into a puppet or he’ll only do it when he’s bored.

“Who told him the meeting location? I wasn’t going to invite everyone there because it will attract unwanted attention. Remember I don’t want the guards involved in our little scheme,” you remind everyone.

Phinks snorts. “If you didn’t want everyone involved you wouldn’t have agreed to act out each scenario.”

“For one, I didn’t agree to act out every scenario. And two, if he has valuable information about Bell’s death or the rumor about me, I’ll stop helping him as soon as I get the information I’m looking for,” you snap at Phinks.

“Even if he does give you information about Bell’s death what will you do with it? It’s not like it’s going to bring him back from the dead or make the rumor disappear,” Feitan says in a matter of fact tone.

You bite your lower lip before speaking. “I know that!”

“If you know that than why are you doing it? You still haven’t answered our question as to why you want the rumor to disappear so badly. You make it seem like if it reaches any ears outside the prison, you’ll be placed on death row. Don’t you have a long sentence like the rest of us?” Phinks asks.

_I bet she’s in for fifty years or more. Wait. Maybe she’s in for life.  No she couldn’t be in for life or on death row. If she was on death row she wouldn’t be storming around the prison trying to clear up a rumor. Is it possible that she has parole or whatever the hell it’s called? How can the Phantom Troupe get something like that? Maybe I can talk to her lawyer and convince them to be ours. A little lie goes a long way to reach freedom. Or maybe I can ask the other prisoners how they got parole. Asking her would only cause suspicion. I need to play it safe._

How naïve of Phinks to think he’s going to get parole for the Phantom Troupe easily if he talks to a prisoner who has it. There’s a lot of paperwork involved and they need a lawyer who’s willing to represent them. So far, no lawyer is willing to represent the Phantom Troupe because their crimes are horrendous. A lawyer who might want to take their case is encouraged not to or else they’ll lose their license.

The Phantom Troupe isn’t going anywhere.

~*~

The client, aka the perverted novelist, prison cell is large and cluttered with expensive furniture and appliances that look like they were ordered from a home décor magazine. The walls are blue and there’s a large plant in the corner of the room next to the toilet that has a small fish tank on a shelf above it. Colorful fish swim around inside the water quickly. They occasionally swim toward the top to eat fish food that’s in the shape of a star.

The prisoner pours hot tea into cups on top of saucers on a tray and passes them out to everyone, smiling wide, baring his fangs like a rabid dog. You sit down on the couch in between Chrollo and Phinks, even though you much rather sit next to Feitan but he chose to sit down on an armchair, and take a sip of the tea.

The unpleasant taste of cinnamon and lemon fills your mouth as you watch the prisoner sit down on an old wooden chair that makes a squeaking noise when his body comes into contact with it. You wonder how long he’s had the chair for because it has scratches everywhere and one of the legs are chipped at the bottom, making the chair wobble a little with every movement.

As soon as you swallow the disgusting tea you speak. “Let’s get down to business, what scenario do you want us to act out? I’m willing to do anything except for the sex scenes.” You place your cup of tea on top of a glass coffee table next to you and sniffle a little. “We can practice a couple of times while you take out your laptop or whatever you plan on using to write your novel.”

The prisoner clears his throat. “Sure, whatever you want but first shall we discuss the real reason you decided to help me? Perhaps there’s something that you want like information about a prisoner?”

_Why else would they have agreed to help me so easily? I’ve been asking some of the other prisoners to act out my scenarios for months and no one has agreed to do it. Oh well, at least I’ll be able to finish my novel now with their help unless they decide to quit because they find my scenarios boring. I hope they’re not boring. I spent weeks thinking of great ideas._

“Why is your prison cell bigger than ours?” Phinks asks looking around the room, eyeing the artwork on the wall. His eyes stop on an artwork that has picture of a rose next to a bowl of soup. It looks like a painting that was done by the famous artist Lynn Kit. It has to worth around a billion jenny.

It’s time to steal once again.

The prisoner places his cup of tea on a small table next to his chair and twiddles his thumbs. “Oh, I guess I’ve been in this prison for so long that the warden decided to give me a large prison cell to myself.” He stops twiddling his thumbs and reaches into his pants pocket to pull out a folded up piece of paper that has words scribbled on it. He unfolds the paper and clears his throat. “So, uh, let’s see the first scenario, if you’re willing to act it out, is a shower scene in which a couple stands inside of my shower and discuss their daily activities.”

“What do you mean by daily activities?” Kaito asks lifting his cup of tea to his lips.

“The couple will talk about how their day was and what they did and perhaps after the shower cuddle each other in bed,” the prisoner says timidly for some reason.

Hisoka leans back against the couch and makes a card appear in his right hand. He aims it at the prisoner’s head but doesn’t throw it. Instead, he licks his lips, stares at the prisoner like a cat ready to pounce on a mouse and adds his two cents to the conversation.

“Did you want us to actually take a shower or just pretend we’re taking a shower? I personally think if you want inspiration for your novel, it’s better to have the real thing minus the nudity. What I’m trying to say is, we can turn on the shower and stand underneath it with our clothes on if that will help you write the scene better?” Hisoka says making the card in his hand disappear only to make it appear again but this time with three other cards.

“Why don’t we do rock scissors paper to find out who’ll act out the scene first?” Shalnark suggests.

You narrow your eyes. “To make it easier I’ll choose Kaito.”

“I want Chrollo to go in there as well. If I don’t like the way Kaito acts out the scene, I’ll write it again based upon the way Chrollo acts it out. I want to write the scene perfectly,” the prisoner says standing up from the chair. He walks over to a door near the entrance and turns on the light. Inside is a small bathroom that has a shower and a sink. He points inside. “Shall we get started?”

~*~

Your clothes are soaked and your hair is wet as you stand inside of the small shower with two dangerous yet gorgeous cellmates, pretending to be a couple to at least one of them until you finish saying your lines only to turn to the other to repeat the lines over again. You feel like you’re in a cheap porno film that’s aired on TV early in the morning in some motel that looks like it might crumble at any moment.

Chrollo and Kaito aren’t wearing a shirt, making the situation worse because you want to stare at their nice abs but refuse to sneak a peek simply because, well, their blood thirsty criminals. If you were to gawk at their chisel chest like a crazy fan obsessed with their favorite singer partially stripping on stage at a concert, you’re not sure if you could live with yourself. They kill people, lie, and steal things to satisfy their frigid heart. The only person who doesn’t seem that bad is Kaito but you don’t know much about him. For all you know he could be putting on an act to fool you.

“How was your day?” Kaito asks interrupting your thoughts. He tilts his head back into the stream of water rushing from the shower head and closes his eyes. Water runs down his face quickly and falls to the floor. “I got a raise at work. I’ve been promoted to manager.”

You blink several times. “Why, that’s nice dear. How much will you be making now? Maybe we should celebrate later on tonight.”

Does a wife actually say things like this to her husband or have you watched too many TV dramas? Hopefully the prisoner doesn’t make you repeat your lines over again otherwise you’ll quit and return to your prison cell. Forget getting information about Bell’s death or the rumor if you have to keep repeating the same boring, robotic lines over and over again.

Kaito looks down at you with a twinkle in his eye. Or what seems like a twinkle in his eyes. You’re not for sure what the look means or why he’s doing it. Oh wait, he’s acting like the perfect husband. Or something like a husband.

“Dear, I would love to celebrate with you but I’m a little tired from working hard all day. Why don’t we take it easy tonight and cuddle in bed while watching a movie? Maybe eat some popcorn and drink wine?” Kaito says in a sexy like tone which makes you want to kick him in his manhood but you don't. 

“Is that the end of your lines? Perhaps I’ll try now,” Chrollo whispers into your ear as he moves his body closer to yours until his crotch is touching your butt. The smell of strawberry drifts from his breath as he opens up his mouth again. He must have eaten one of Hisoka’s bungee gum. “So, how was your day? I was promoted to vice president and would like to celebrate tonight.”

You narrow your eyes. “I thought you were the general manager dear? How did you get the vice president position? Are you friends with the president?”

Chrollo places his hands on your arm and massages it a little. You want to push the troupe leader away but feel the prisoner’s eyes glued on you like a mother watching her child play at a park. Instead of acting out of character you decide to say your next line for the sake of obtaining information about Bell’s death and the nasty rumor.

“I thought I told you that I applied for the vice president position two months ago?” He presses his lips against your ear and breathes in a little before he speaks again. His breath kisses your skin, sending waves of heat throughout your body. The sensation feels good but the thought that he’s a bloodthirsty criminal makes the feeling disappear immediately. “I think I told you when we were making love inside of my parents’ house.”

You clench and unclench your jaw. “I’m sorry it must have slipped my mind just like our lovemaking session.”

Chrollo laughs. “It’s okay. I forgive you.”

The prisoner claps his hands as he approaches the shower, smiling wide like a child entering a candy store. He turns off the shower and grabs some towels from a cabinet above the sink and hands them to everyone. You dry your face, hair, and arms off before exiting the bathroom and sitting down on the broken wooden chair. It makes a squeaking noise once your butt comes into contact with it and wobbles a little as you reach up to dry your hair off again.

“I wrote down both scenes but I think I prefer Chrollo’s version better since there’s tension between the couple. It makes the story livelier,” the prisoner says excitedly. He claps his hands again and points to the bed. “Why don’t we try acting out the next scene?”

“Before we do that, I would like you to answer a question,” you say continuing to dry your hair off.

The prisoner nods his head. “Sure, what’s your question?”

You swallow hard. “Do you know anything about Bell’s death? Better yet, have you heard any rumors about me?”

The prisoner grows very quiet as if you had just told him you’re pregnant with his baby. He doesn’t say anything for a few moments, and slowly walks over to the couch and sits down, growing pale a little. It looks like he might be sick at any moment yet and you look for a garbage can for him to throw up in but don’t see any. Hopefully he doesn’t get sick or at least makes it to the bathroom in time.

Chrollo, Hisoka, Illumi, and Kaito stare at him quietly while you lower the towel from your damp hair, breathing hard a little because you pray the answer he gives you is what you’re looking for. If it’s not, you’ll have to play the twenty question game with another prisoner and who knows what twisted favor they would want you to do in order to give you an answer.

Screw that!

 “Who sent you?” the prisoner asks in a shaky voice.

“No one sent me. I just want to know what happened to Bell that’s all. He was supposed to clear up a misunderstanding for me,” you explain.

The prisoner nods his head. “Oh, so you’re the person he warned me about.”

“What do you mean by that?” Kaito asks.

The prisoner closes his eyes and sighs. “Bell told me that a prisoner would ask about his whereabouts since it seems like he’s dead. The truth is he’s not dead. He was transferred to another prison. I can’t tell you the name to the prison but I can say you don’t have to worry the rumor anymore. Bell took care of the person responsible for spreading it before he was transferred. You have nothing to worry about.”

That’s good to hear the rumor is gone but why was Bell transferred? Better yet, what does he mean that the person responsible for rumor was dealt with? Did he kill them? Or maybe the novelist killed them and later wrote about it for his novel?

It doesn’t matter. As long as the rumor is gone you are able to get out this prison without any issues unless one of your cellmates does something to piss off the warden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like. :)


	14. Chapter 14

 

 

A small antique clock on the wall ticks loudly inside of the large abandon theater. There’s trash on the floor in front of the empty seats and in the aisles. Some seats have food crumbs while others have stains that look like someone had spilled paint on it. The wide screen in front of the seats has several holes in it and what appears to be a drawing of two people having sex in a pool of blood toward the bottom. Whoever had drawn it thought it was a joke; however, it disturbs you.

The pervert novelist enters theater room carrying a notebook and pen, smiling smugly as if he was just told that he’s getting out of prison. He flicks some crumbs off a seat in the front row and sits down on it, continuing to smile smugly and looks over at you. As soon as his eyes come into contact with yours, his smile disappears and is replaced with a curled lip as if you had insulted his writing. He puts his notebook and pen down on the empty seat next to him and twiddles his thumbs.

“Shall we get started on the next scenario? If you need to use the restroom there’s one in the corner of the room,” he says looking over at a bucket next to a sink that has cracks and stains all over it. If someone were to throw a ball or a shoe at the sink, you swear it would crumble into pieces instantly. “I suggest you take a restroom break now before we get started. The lines are very long and I want to write as much as possible without any interruptions.”

There’s no way in hell you’re going to use a bucket in front of your cellmates. Sure you use the toilet inside the prison cell but they look away mainly because you demand them to. The pervert novelist might peek and jot down notes inside of his notebook for his novel or so called novel. He hasn’t shown you any proof that he’s actually writing one. It makes you wonder what he is really writing about.

Hisoka and Phinks walk over to the bucket while Kaito, Shalnark, Feitan, Chrollo, and Illumi sit down in seats in the third row. Shalnark and Illumi prop their feet up on the seat in front of them and close their eyes while Chrollo reads a book. You want to sit down in the back but the next scenario requires you.

Actually it doesn’t but the pervert novelist had begged you to act as a nosy bartender who flirts with the husband in his novel.

“This time I would like Hisoka or Phinks to act as the husband and…,” he points to you, smiling smugly again. “I want you to act as the bartender who asks the husband a lot of questions and eventually…”

“Sleeps with them and blah blah…” you interrupt him quickly.

He narrows his eyes. “I’d appreciate it if you take this seriously. I gave you information about Bell and you agreed to act out the scenarios. If you have a problem with the scenarios, tell me instead of acting rude.”

Hisoka stands in front of the bucket, unzips his pants, and empties his bladder. A splashing noise echoes in the room. You sigh as you walk over to an empty seat in the front row next to the pervert novelist and sit down. Thankfully the seat doesn’t have any crumbs or stains on it. Maybe someone cleans it off every time they come here.

Maybe the pervert artist cleans off the seat before they draw explicit pictures.

“How long will this take?” Phinks asks the prisoner as he looks around the theater room, eyeing the stains on the wall. “I have something that I need to do.”

“What do you have to do?” Shalnark asks opening up one eye.

Phinks shrugs. “Things…it doesn’t matter. I have to leave soon.”

_They can’t know that I’m going to talk to the Warden because I might get eight hours of free time privileges outside the prison. I’m not sure if I can choose where I want to go. It doesn’t matter. I’ll be able to get a break from this hell hole for a few hours and enjoy myself. I’m tired of being around the other Troupe members and her…The first thing I’m going to do is have sex; a lot of sex once I’m out of here._

You prevent yourself from laughing at his thoughts by biting your bottom lip. The thing you find amusing is that he wants to have a lot of sex not because he’s might be granted time outside the prison. It makes since that he wants to pay some person to ride him inside of a dirty hotel room. Or maybe they’ll do the deed inside of an expensive hotel room. Is it possible the guards will agree to it? Will they give him a box of condoms and say “have the time of your life” as he exits the car and runs into the hotel hard as a rock.

“What do you have to do? The Phantom Troupe doesn’t keep secrets,” Chrollo says looking up from his book to Phinks with a twinkle in his eyes. “If you don’t wish to share it in front of non-members, we can talk about it back in the prison cell.”

“It’s a personal matter that I must take care of,” Phinks says quickly as he walks over to the pervert novelist. He picks up the notebook off the seat and flips it open to a page.

Chrollo closes his book and leans forward a bit. His shadow covers the trash littering the floor in front of him. “Phinks, is there a problem?”

Phinks flips to another page in the notebook. “No, there isn’t.”

“That’s a lie,” Feitan adds. “Why won’t you tell us what personal matter you must take care of? The Phantom Troupe doesn’t keep secrets.”

_You’re full of crap Feitan. They don’t know that you’ve been stealing their snacks from the cabinet above the TV. Hell, Chrollo thinks Shalnark is eating his chocolate pudding but it’s actually you. On top of that, she doesn’t know that you….heh…heh…no…no…I’m not going to think about that. If only she knew the truth about what you actually do after she sleeps. You want to make fun of me for being a pervert when you sniff her dirty uniform as you masterbate. I caught you doing it three times this week._

“How could you sniff my uniform and masterbate Feitan!” you blurt out loudly, not realizing you just revealed Phinks’s thought.

Crap.

Feitan’s eyes grow wide as he looks around at everyone. “That’s not true! I’m not sure what she’s talking about.”

“Give it a rest Feitan. I caught you the other day sniffing her underwear as you touched yourself,” Shalnark says in a cheerful tone, not having an issue that he had just revealed Feitan’s secret. “It’s no surprise that you would do something like that. It’s been…what six or seven months since anyone has had sex. I’m sure she’s touchs herself thinking about us.”

You’d rather drink a bottle of poison or drown in the ocean than fantasize about them being naked above you in the cramped prison cell. Hell, you rather beg a guard to take you to a place like the hole, or a place similar to the hole, in the prison where they chain you to the wall and spoon feed you slop that smells like it came out of a dumpster than masterbate to them.

“I saw her staring at my body this morning in the shower. At first I thought she was looking at Hisoka until I realized she was looking at my chest and my pe….” Illumi begins to say but Kaito interrupts him.

“It doesn’t matter. We came here to help the novelist write his story. Focus on the task at hand instead of bickering over pointless things,” Kaito says sternly.

Chrollo nods his head in agreement. “We can talk about this later.”

“No! I want to talk about this now! Why didn’t anyone tell me that Feitan is sniffing my dirty clothes? I thought we don’t keep secrets from each other,” you say crossing your arms.

“The rule doesn’t apply to you since you’re not a member in the Phantom Troupe,” Feitan says rudely.

“Oh and the rule is actually practice well in the Phantom Troupe? I doubt that,” you say looking at Phinks with fire in your eyes. He looks up from the notebook at you and quickly looks back at it as if he knows that you are aware of his secret.

“There are no secrets in the Phantom Troupe. We tell each other everything,” Chrollo says tucking his book underneath his arm as he stands up and walks over to the bucket in the corner of the room. He unzips his pants and empties his bladder.

You really hate being inside of a theater room that has a bucket for a toilet and a broken sink to wash your hands. The fact that they don’t have a problem taking a leak in front of you makes your blood boil. If you could break their nose until blood gushes out like a waterfall, you would do it in a heartbeat but unfortunately they are deadly criminals who could rip your heart out in an instant.

The prisoner claps his hands loudly to get everyone’s attention. “This is brilliant! Simply brilliant! I’m going to write about this. I’ll let you know the next time I want you act out a scenario.”

The prisoner grabs his notebook out of Phinks’s hands and exits the room quickly without saying anything else. Everyone grows quiet and eventually leaves one at time until it’s just you. You look around the theater room one last time before storming out angrily to the lounge. Playing a little pool alone will help you calm down.

~*~

The lounge is empty and quiet when you enter it. There are some soda cans and potato chip bags on a table next to a vending machine. In front of the vending machine on the floor are two animal magazines that have pictures of kittens sitting on someone’s lap. You walk over to the pool table and pick up a stick underneath it and grip it tightly before grabbing some pool balls out of a box on a shelf across from the pool table. As you reach inside the box, Phinks walks in muttering something underneath his breath. He stops muttering as soon as he sees you.

“How long are you going to stay in here for?” Phinks asks shutting the door behind him.

You shrug grabbing some balls and place them on the pool table. Phinks stares at your movements carefully as if he’s deciding when to lunge at you and break your neck. You ignore him and place the balls in different place on the pool table instead of putting them together in the middle.

“If you’re not going to play, get out,” you say sharply leaning over the pool table, aiming the pool stick at a ball. You hit it hard and it crashes into another ball, causing it roll into a pocket.

Phinks leans against the door and crosses his arms. “How did you know that Feitan sniffs your dirty uniform? No one told you that. Did you see him doing it the other day?”

 “Can we drop it please? It doesn’t matter how I know,” you say leaning away from the pool table. “If you’re going to pester me about it, I’m going to leave.”

Phinks narrows his eyes. “You’re hiding something.”

“You’re being extremely annoying.”

“What’s your secret?”

“I don’t have a secret. Drop it already.”

Phinks clicks his tongue. “It’s such a shame that you won’t share your secret with me when I was willing to share my free time privilege with you.”

You look over at him and pretend that you don’t know what he’s talking about.

“What are you talking about?” you ask innocently.

Phinks shrugs. “It’s possible that I might be granted eight hours of free time outside the prison. The guards are allowing me to bring one person. I was going to bring you but since you’re hiding a secret, I can’t do that.”

You snort. “Why would the guards grant you eight hours of free time outside the prison? You’re a dangerous criminal who doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as civilians let alone walk on the same sidewalk as them.”

Phinks laugh a little and walks over to the pool table. He picks up a ball and stares at the scuffs on it.  “I’ll tell you my secret if you tell me yours.”

“Fine, do you really want to know what my secret is?”

“Yes, tell me.”

_Wow, that was fast. I didn’t actually think she would tell me her secret soon._

You walk over to Phinks, stand on your tippy toes, and whisper into his ear. “I want to screw your brains out. I want you to rip off my clothes and take me on the pool table.”

Phinks blushes hard. “Huh?”

_Is she being serious? There’s no way in hell that’s her secret. She’s definitely playing around with me. It has to be a joke. She wouldn’t have sex with me even if I was last man on Earth._

You place your hand on his chest and slowly move it down to his waistline, swallowing bile climbing up your throat. Phinks’s face is as red as beat and there’s a lump in his pants. The sight of it growing harder makes your stomach do back flips. You breathe in and out slowly and try to think of something happy that isn’t the shape of a male’s member. Why in the hell would you think about something that is the same shape as a male’s member? Think about fruits and vegetables. Wait there are some fruits and vegetables that are the same shape.

Crap! Crap!

This is the worst decision you have ever made. No wait, the worst decision you have ever made is agreeing to come to the prison because the police had asked you, strangely enough, if you wanted to come to this prison or another that’s in the ocean. You had agreed to come to this one unaware that you would be the only female.

Crap! Crap!

“Uh, what are you doing?” Phinks asks breathing hard a little. He grows harder until it’s pointing to Jupiter. “I…uh…maybe we should stop. Someone might come in.”

“I like being watched,” you whisper into his ear.

Just as Phinks opens up his mouth to say something Hisoka and Chrollo enter the room chatting about something loudly. They stop as soon as they see you next to Phinks and quickly turn around to exit the room. You run across the room and grab Hisoka’s arm so that you can explain the misunderstanding but he gently takes your hand off his arm and tries to leave.

“It’s not what you think! Seriously, we weren’t…I wasn’t…” you try to say, stumbling over your words.

Chrollo looks at you calmly. “I didn’t know you two were like that. Since when has this been going on for? Is this private matter that Phinks needed to take care of?”

Phinks places his hands in front of his bulge. “No! God no! I don’t like her! She was trying to come on to me.”

You take a step back from Chrollo and Hisoka waving your arms. “Wait, wait, yes I did come on to him but not because…oh…hell…It’s not what you think. We weren’t going to have sex on the pool table or the couch where you sleep.”

Chrollo raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“Why would you have sex on the couch where Chrollo sleeps? That’s disrespectful to my boss and downright disgusting,” Phinks says blushing harder.

You glance over at him. “Oh really, is that the reason why you’re as hard as rock?”

Just as you Hisoka open his mouth to say something, the prisoner, pervert novelist enters the room with a notebook in one hand a pencil in the other. The notebook is different from the other one. This one is smaller and has a picture of an half eaten apple on it. He smiles smugly as he shuts the door behind him but there’s something eerie about his smile. It almost seems as if he’s about to do something evil like a witch casting a sleeping spell on everyone. He opens up his notebook and jots something down quickly before looking around at everyone.

“Do you want to know why I asked you guys to act out my scenarios? It’s not because she’s the only female in prison, well technically it is, but because I saw something…how should I say it…interesting about you guys. You argue like a married couple and it gives me so many ideas for my novel. In fact I decided to make this situation even more interesting by using my gift,” the prisoner says flipping to a page that has a list of names on it. You guess it’s your name and your cell mates.

“You have our names written in your notebook. What’s so special about that?” Phinks says continuing to hide his bulge with his hands.

The prisoner grins hard. “The point is I’ll be able to make you do whatever I want by writing it in this notebook. You see, I have a rather rare gift that isn’t a nen ability that allows me to control people’s actions by writing it out. Of course I can’t make people I don’t know do it. No, I have to know their name first. How do you think I got Bell to kill himself? I wrote his suicide one night while listening to classical music and drinking a nice glass of wine.”

What the hell did he just say? He can control people’s actions by writing it in his notebook? There’s no way in the hell that’s true. It’s can’t be! Is he really responsible for Bell’s death? Did he really write out a small scenario in which Bell had committed suicide?

No!

“You said that your gift isn’t a nen ability? What is it?” Chrollo asks staring at the notebook in the prisoner’s hand.

The prisoner laughs a little. “You doubt my gift don’t you? Bell did too until I made him drink a bottle of poison. Shall I make you drink a bottle of poison too Chrollo Lucilfer? Or should I make you kill the other Troupe members? No, wait, maybe I’ll make you screw the only female in prison on top of the pool table.”

You swallow hard as thoughts race in your mind. How in the hell did you not realized that something was wrong with the situation? Who in their right mind asks others to act out scenarios for a so called novelist? No one does. You thought he was being genuine when he asked you to help him.

Hisoka licks his lips. “That’s an interesting gift you have. Are you sure it’s not a rare nen ability?”

The prisoner closes his notebook. “It’s not. Now, shall we really get started?”

You want to ask him the obvious question of “why are you doing this?” but decide to hold your tongue because you’re afraid he might make you do something perverted. Instead you stand there, feeling helpless; praying that Feitan or Illumi would walk in at any moment and kill the sick bastard.

“I’m assuming you can’t make everyone do something in a day?” Chrollo says cupping his chin, acting normal, as if the situation isn’t bad. “If I were to take a guess, you can only make four people do something per day?”

“It’s possible but does it matter?” he says looking around the room at everyone. His eyes stop on you and he grins a little. “I wrote out the perfect scenario for your female cellmate. If you want me to erase it, you had better guess what I wrote by midnight tomorrow. Don’t worry; the scenario isn’t scheduled to happen until two days from now.”

He bows elegantly and exits the room, leaving you to wonder what scenario he had written in his notebook.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like. :)


	15. Chapter 15

 

 

The guards stand outside your prison cell chatting quietly about which wing stinks the most. Apparently some prisoners in the wing next to yours haven’t taken a shower in weeks, possibly months, due to some silly boycott over the food served in the cafeteria.

Some prisoners want greasy food such as fried chicken, French fries, hamburgers, and fried cake. You didn’t know cake could be fried until the prisoner next door had mentioned a recipe for it one morning in the shower. They said their mother had put a small chocolate cake inside of a frying vat for fifteen minutes. Soon after, they had stuffed their face and licked chocolate off their fingers. It was the best cake they have ever eaten.

The thought of eating fried chocolate cake makes your stomach growl as you roll over on your bed, yawning loudly. Illumi sits up in his bed naked, yawning and stretching his arms until a popping noise is heard. Feitan rolls over on the top bunk above the assassin and scratches his messy hair.

Chrollo and Kaito sleep on the couch, snoring a little every so often. You figure the two would be up by now but it seems they had stayed up late last night discussing what to do with the pervert novelist. Whatever they had written in their notebook, it will happen today unless you guess the correct scenario.

You clench and unclench your jaw thinking about what erotic scenario they had written involving one of your cellmates naked on top of you, whispering something ludicrous into your ear. Most likely Chrollo or Hisoka will star as the dreamy prince who will fulfill your sexual desires.

_Today is the day we find out what scenario that bastard wrote in their notebook. I wonder if Chrollo wants us to sneak into the novelist’s prison cell and kill him before the scenario happens. Ah, maybe that won’t work since we don’t know what cell block or wing they are in. I hope the scenario doesn’t involve sex. Yes, no sex. Please no sex. I don’t think I will be able to contain myself._

Phinks better contain himself if the scenario involves sex. He needs to think with his head and not with his dick if he wants to prevent anything from happening.

That’s if the scenario can be prevented by resisting the urge to have sex.

Your eyes light up as an idea flashes into your mind. What if chaining your cellmates to their bed or chaining yourself to a chair for a few hours helps you resist the urge to have sex? If you are chained up, there is no way anything could happen.

“I have an idea but you’re not going to like it,” you say scrambling off the bed and over to the couch to wake up Chrollo and Kaito. They blink several times, eyes bloodshot as if they have been drinking all night, and sit up slowly. “We need to ask the guards for chains, rope, or something to tie each other up.”

Kaito clears his throat before speaking. “What? Why do we need rope?”

“To tie ourselves up so that we don’t have to screw each other’s brains out once the scenario happens,” you say looking from him to Chrollo and back to him again, smiling wide like a madman. “If it works, we will be able to avoid acting out the other scenarios.”

“But that bastard will continue to write scenarios unless we kill him,” Phinks mentions.

“We should kill him now,” Feitan says.

No, that’s not what you want. If they kill the pervert novelist, the guards will take away your free time privileges permanently. Hell, maybe they will take you to a place similar to the hole for the rest of your sentence, making you miss the opportunity to call your lawyer.

You shake your head. “No Feitan, we aren’t going to kill the cheeky bastard. I want to enjoy my free time privileges away from you slobs.”

In speaking of slobs, you haven’t seen Hisoka lounging around the prison cell, attempting to piss someone off just to ease his boredom. Did he volunteer to clean the cafeteria so that he can search for a strong opponent or did he get into trouble?

“Where’s Hisoka?” you ask looking at a messy futon next to the TV. “Did he tell you where’s he’s going? He needs to be here if the scenario starts early.”

“Relax, even if the scenario starts early, he’ll have to come back to act it out,” Chrollo says grabbing a book off the coffee table. He opens it up and flips to the last page he read. “If the scenario involves him having sex with you, we’ll have to think of strategy to tie him up.”

“Let her touch him while we wait for the opportunity to tie him up,” Phinks suggests as he hops off the top bunk. He walks over to the sink and splashes some water on his face. “If I’m the one who wants to have sex with her, you should tie me up now.”

Kaito waves his hand in the air. “We don’t know for sure if the scenario involves anyone of us. What if the novelist wants her to have sex with another prisoner who may or may not be in this wing?”

“What if the novelist wants you guys to have sex with each other?” you say trying not to think about Hisoka and Chrollo screwing each other on the couch. You love sitting on the couch and would hate to throw it away because it’s stained with their body fluids.

Phinks frowns. “Are you trying to say It's possible that bastard wants me to bang Chrollo?” He shakes his head. “There’s no way in hell I’m sticking my dick in…”

Kaito cuts him off. “We get it Phinks.” He looks over at the door to see if the guard is still there and spots them off to the side laughing hysterically. “Ask the guard to take you to the storage room by the showers. There should be rope inside of it.”

“How do you know there’s rope inside of it? Is there something you’re not telling us?” Phinks asks, staring at Kaito with curiosity in his eyes. He hopes the pro hunter isn’t tying up prisoners to satisfy some kink.

“It doesn’t matter how Kaito knows there’s rope inside the closet. I’ll go and get it while one of you finds Shalnark and Hisoka. Bring them back here and ask the guard to tie us up,” you say walking toward the door. You turn around to look at everyone one last time before leaving. “I’ll be back soon.”

~*~

An hour later everyone is tied up in rope, chains, and handcuffs, lying on the bottom bunks together. Phinks, Hisoka, Shalnark, and Illumi lay on the bottom bunk across from you while you lay in between Kaito, Chrollo, and Feitan. The guard had tied up everyone without questioning why and had somehow managed to fit everyone on the small beds.

The room is dark except for some light shining in through a crack under the door. It kisses the floor, bottom bunks, and wall. As you stare at the light, you wonder what the other prisoners are doing right now. Usually most prisoners in your wing hang out at the lounge or the gym. You can’t wait to work out once the novelist is taken care of.

“Are you awake?” Phinks whispers.

Feitan groans a little. “Who are you talking to?”

“Anyone,” Phinks replies.

“Why would we be asleep right now when it’s only ten o’clock in the morning? I’m not like Hisoka who enjoys sleeping in until someone kicks him in the side to wake up. Not that I’m saying you should kick me to wake up because if you did, I’d kill you,” you say closing your eyes, imagining Kaito kicking Hisoka in the groin for snoring loud. His snores sound like a chainsaw mixed with a growling bear.

“What are they serving for lunch today?” Illumi asks.

Feitan snorts. “Why? It’s not like we’re going to eat it since we’re tied up.”

“Would you two stop it,” Kaito says sternly.

“Stop what?” Feitan asks angrily.

“We should be focusing on how we’re supposed to get rid of the novelist. It’s possible he’s writing more erotic scenarios right now,” you say opening up your eyes.

Chrollo makes a humming noise. “It’s also possible that he’s writing violent scenarios. His nen ability is truly amazing. Something I wouldn’t mind stealing.”

“You can’t steal it since he claims it’s not a nen ability,” Shalnark reminds him.

You bite your bottom lip before speaking. “What if it’s a nen ability but he’s lying about it? The only way to find out is by having Chrollo attempt to steal it.”

_Stealing his nen ability would be a great ability I can use while I’m stuck here. I could write a scenario in which the guards help the Phantom Troupe escape prison and afterward, their memories about us are erased._

You honestly forgot that Chrollo is a dangerous criminal who has an A class bounty on his head. He shouldn’t be roaming the streets because he’ll steal and kill innocent people to get what he wants. Keeping him in prison is a wise decision. Why did you suggest stealing the novelist’s nen ability?

How reckless.

Now Chrollo is really going to do it unless…unless the novelist’s power is a gift like yours.

~*~

“Nothing happened. Why did you tell us that something would?” you ask the pervert novelist who sits on a chair across from you, twiddling his thumbs. “What do you want with us?”

The novelist shrugs. “I want you to work for me. And yes, I didn’t write anything because I wanted to test you and it looks like you passed.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Excuse me? What test?

“It doesn’t matter. The only thing you need to know is that I won’t write any scenarios unless you force me to,” he reaches into his pants pocket, pulls out a pocket size notebook, and tosses it on your lap. “I want you to deliver some items to the prisoners listed in there.”

You open up the notebook to find a list of prisoner’s name, prison cell numbers, and what wing they are located in. On the last page is a list of items to buy from the store and the price for each one. One of the items is poptarts, something you have never seen in the store, that costs 1,000 jenny.

“So, you want us to buy items from the store and deliver it? Why can’t they do it?” you ask.

The novelist looks around the room, eyeing the ugly wallpaper on the wall and scratches on the furniture clogging the small space. The study room in the library is meant to fit one person. Not three. You had told Chrollo and Kaito to stay in the prison cell while you met the novelist, but they still came anyway.

“Do you want us to steal it or buy it?” Chrollo asks.

If it involves stealing, that’s something he can do without an issue. Purchasing items from the store is a different story since he holds the Phantom Troupe’s values close to his heart. He won’t buy or accept a gift from anyone because it will bring shame to the troupe.

“I prefer buying to keep my business squeaky clean if you know what I mean?” the novelist says looking at Chrollo who’s sitting in a leather armchair behind you. “If you don’t want me to write a rather, hmm, how should I say it, erotic scenario, you will buy items from the store and deliver it.”

Kaito crosses his arms. “Why can’t the prisoners…”

“Clients,” the novelist corrects him.

“Why can’t your clients buy the items from the store? Did they lose their free time privileges?” Kaito asks.

“It doesn’t matter,” the novelist says crossing the room to the door. He places his hand on the doorknob and laughs a little. “I look forward to working with you.”

“We never agreed to work with you,” Chrollo says calmly as he reaches into his pants pocket for a pen. If they weren’t inside of the library, he would lodge the pen into the novelist’s skull. “I want to discuss this matter with our cellmates.”

“I’m sure the Phantom Troupe could benefit from my business since it gives you a lot of free time privileges. What I’m doing isn’t illegal. The guards know about it and they sometimes help me find new employees who will work for me for the sake of making the prison a better place,” the novelist says cheerily without turning around to make eye contact with Chrollo. “Besides, your group could benefit from it since, well, the guards are considering on moving you to the hole.”

“I thought the hole doesn’t exist anymore since new management is in charge,” you say quickly.

The novelist turns around, grinning a little. “You’re right but that doesn’t stop the guards from creating a new one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like. :)


	16. Chapter 16

 

You thought you were going to deliver items to a different wing and not to residents in a city called Pearls near the prison. As you sit in the backseat of a taxi car next to Feitan, Kaito, and Hisoka, troubled thoughts such as the delivery going wrong boggle your mind. How could you explain to the novelist that something happened? Or maybe it’s better to stay silent.

The consequences won’t be good if the novelist finds out. Most likely they will write an erotic scenario involving in which a cellmate does ravishes your body. If it’s Phinks, you rather act out the scenario with Hisoka since he doesn’t want to have sex with you. He’s much more interested in fighting you than whispering corny pickup lines in your ear as he touches your thigh.

Please no!

Chrollo sits in the front seat holding a map to the city. Instead of looking for a hotel to stay at since the job will take several days to complete, he looks for all of the libraries, coffee shops, theaters, and department stores. The stores have valuable items he can steal and attempt to bring back to the prison unless he somehow gets in contact with the other members in the Phantom Troupe.

The other members in the Phantom Troupe can bring the items back to their hideout and keep it there until Chrollo is released from prison; however, he got life. They will have to sneak it to him in prison.

You hope he doesn’t steal anything since some guards will be escorting everyone. They are bound to do a full body search if they notice suspicious activity such as Chrollo shoving expensive ballpoint pens into his pockets. As to why he’s obsessed with expensive ballpoint pens is a mystery. You suspect it has something to do with his childhood or maybe the pens remind him of a gift he had received from an ex-lover.

Or maybe the troupe leader is a closet pervert who has some weird kink for expensive ballpoint pens. Your friend, well an ex-friend, had told you a few years back about the top ten strange kinks guys and girls have in the bedroom. One of them was writing a letter using a quail pen. A quail pen! Why in the world would anyone get aroused from watching someone use a quail pen to write a sappy love letter?

It doesn’t make any sense but neither does trying to figure out why Chrollo steals expensive ballpoint pens or why Hisoka gets an erection whenever he’s fighting a strong opponent.

The taxi cab stops in front of a large hotel that looks like it extends into space because you can’t see the top. The building is brown and gold with a car parking lot next to it. There are some people smoking cigarettes near the entrance and an elderly woman checking the time on her watch by a large vase that has snowflakes painted on it. As soon as her eyes come into contact with yours, she walks over to the car very slowly, smiling brightly like older people do whenever they see their family.

She opens the door and sticks her head in without asking for permission. A strong scent of mint drifts from her breath as she opens her mouth to say something to the taxi cab driver. Feitan, Chrollo, Kaito, and Hisoka don’t say anything which is strange because usually they would question stranger’s actions.

“Thank you Jin for dropping off my granddaughter and her husbands. I really appreciate it,” she says in a southern accent while looks at you, winking her right eye. “We better hurry and go to my room before dinner is delivered. We’re having Swedish meatballs and asparagus tonight.”

You blink. “I’m sorry but maybe you have the wrong person. I’m not…”

The taxi cab driver, Jin, turns around quickly. “Listen to your grandmother and go inside before I call your mother and tell her that you’re not cooperating.” He narrows his eyes and lowers voice. “You wouldn’t want me to call mother now would you?

You wonder who this mother person is since it can’t be your mother or your cellmates for that matter. It has to be a code name for the pervert novelist. Maybe Jin is the taxi cab drivers code name and the elderly woman is using nen to make herself look old when she’s really a young woman in her twenties.

“Grandma, thank you for letting us stay with you,” Chrollo says with a twinkle in his eyes. He gets out of the car and takes the luggage out of the trunk without asking anyone for help. “What floor is your room on?”

The elderly woman laughs a little. “Son, call me Silver.” She points to the entrance. “You can take your luggage to the twentieth floor.”

Chrollo nods his head and waits for Kaito, Hisoka, and Feitan to follow him inside the hotel. They must have figured out the elderly lady is the client and the word mother is a code name for the pervert novelist. If that wasn’t the case, they would have slaughtered them in a heartbeat.

The taxi cab driver hands you a receipt that has a number on the back of it. Underneath the number is the word mother written in cursive by someone who has crappy handwriting. You say thank you to the taxi cab driver, get out of the car, and follow Silver inside the hotel and up to her room on the twentieth floor.

Chrollo, Feitan, Kaito, and Hisoka sit on leather couches that are in front of a gas fireplace. In between the couches and the fireplace is a glass coffee table that has a bowl on top filled with heart shaped chocolates. Across from it is a large window that has a view of the city lights underneath the dark sky. You stare at the city lights for a few minutes, wishing that the hotel was actually yours.

Taking a hot bath in peace while listening to piano music is something you really want to do. Forget eating Swedish meatballs and asparagus for dinner. Your body has a date with the tub.

Silver claps her hands to get everyone’s attention. Parts of her gray hair fall into her face, covering her light brown eyes. “Thank you for cooperating. I would hate to send you back to prison right now.” She looks over at you. “As I said before outside, my name is Silver. I’m one of your employer’s clients. The delivery will take place three days from now. It’s a pleasure to work with you.”

You nod your head slowly while looking at your cellmates to see what expression is on their face. They don’t look worried, tired, or excited about the situation. In fact, the criminals look bored as if they have pretended to be someone else prior to being imprison. None of them are making eye contact with Silver and when they do, it looks as if they are sleeping with their eyes open.

“Until this job is finished, you will pretend to be married at all times, meaning you will do what married people do during a vacation,” she walks over to a door in the corner of the room and turns on a light. The light kisses the furniture inside. “This will be your room.” She waves everyone over and points to a queen size bed, a walk-in closet, and an armchair next to the window. “Every night, you will sleep in this bed together. No one will sleep on the floor at all.”

Feitan sits on the edge of the bed. “You can’t tell me what to do. I don’t answer to you.”

“Listen to her,” Chrollo says sternly, causing Feitan to clamp his mouth shut.

“As I said before, it would be unfortunate if I had to send you back to prison,” Silver says placing her hand on your shoulder. She squeezes it a little and moves close to your face as if she’s about to kiss you. “It’s best that everyone gets along. I can count on you to make that happens right?”

You stare at the wrinkles on her forehead and freckles on her nose. Underneath her eyes are sleeping bags and some blush on her cheeks. She looks extremely tired as if she hasn’t slept for days, maybe weeks. You wonder if she gets brakes to relax or when her shift ends. That’s if her shift ends. It’s possible she’s working twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Silver walks over to the walk-in closet and opens up the door. Inside there are shelves above two poles that have some clothes hanging from it. Below it is a mirror and a mini dresser that has some makeup, cologne, perfume, and deodorant on top.

“You can put your clothes in here,” Silver says taking a hanger off the pole. “Please hang up your clothes and do not throw them on the floor. I hate slobs.”

“I agree,” you whisper.

Silver shows you where all of the appliances, tableware, food, and spices are in the kitchen. Afterward, she shows you how to turn on the large flat screen TV in the living room and where the bathroom is at. You are much more interested in the bathroom because it has a large tub underneath a window that has beautiful view of the city, an automatic flush toilet, two sinks, and a closet filled with towels, bath bombs, and bottles of shampoo.

You want to kick everyone out of the room so that you can take a nice hot bath but remember your obnoxious cellmates must join you because they are pretending to be your spouse. There has to be some way you can take a hot bath alone.

Kaito turns on the TV and plops down on the couch as Silver opens up the front door. The smell of roast chicken and rosemary potatoes drifts in from the hallway, filling your nose with a pleasant aroma. Someone is about to eat a delicious dinner and you wish Silver had ordered the same dish since you are not a big fan of meatballs.

“Do you have any questions? If you do, please call me,” she hands Feitan a business card that has her information on it. On the back is a picture of a frozen rose. “I’m staying in a room on the sixtieth floor but you are not allowed to visit whenever you want. If you wish to visit, it must for an emergency.” She looks over at you, smiling wide. “Several guards will be guarding this room at all times. At every hour, one guard will get a head count to make sure you are all here.”

Feitan snorts. “We can always escape out the window.”

“Sure go ahead. As soon as you leave you’ll find yourself back in this room.”

You frown. “How is that possible?”

“It doesn’t matter why it happens. What’s important is that you cooperate and pretend to be a happily married couple,” Silver says taking a step out into the hallway. She grows quiet before looking back at everyone to say one more thing. “Don’t mess this job up.”

As soon as Silver leaves, you grab a new uniform, a book, a toothbrush, and a shaver from a backpack the pervert novelist had given you and rush to the bathroom, slamming the door once inside. You fill the tub with hot water, toss in a bath bomb, take off your clothes, and sit inside the tub.

“This is nice. Why can’t our prison cell have this?” you whisper, closing your eyes. A knock on the door startles you a little. “What is it? I’m taking a bath. I’ll be out in an hour.”

“I need to use the toilet. May I come in?” Hisoka asks politely, rubbing you the wrong way since he never asks politely back at prison.

“Can you hold it for an hour?” you ask.

Hisoka sticks his head into the bathroom and looks at you. “No because I need to go number two.”

“Number two? What are you a child? You could have told that you need to take a crap,” you snap at him.

Hisoka shuts the door and pulls his pants down without even asking for permission. He sits down on the toilet and stares at the door. You figure he would make cards appear in his hand so that he can have something to do while he’s taking a crap but he stares at the door, eyes wide, as if he’s waiting for a strong opponent to walk in at any moment.

“What do you think about the situation,” you ask looking out the window, admiring the bright city lights. Two airplanes take off in the distance, and for a minute, you wish you were on one, traveling to a different country to go on a crazy road trip. “I’m not too keen on pretending to be your lovely wife.”

“It’s not like you haven’t done it before,” Hisoka says, reminding you of the time you had pretended to be married in the hole before new management had taken over the prison. “The only difference is we’re in a five star hotel delivery an important item to Silver.”

“She doesn’t need us to pretend to be a married couple if we’re dropping off a few items and returning to the prison,” you say watching another airplane take off in the distance. Its bright lights disappear into the dark sky.

Hisoka chuckles a little. “It’s true she doesn’t she need us to pretend to be a married couple; however, she wants us to do it because I suspect someone is monitoring her movements.”

You look over at Hisoka, frowning. “You think the police are involved? Why would they care?”

“Because,” Hisoka begins to say but pauses before continuing. When he speaks again, he lowers his voice as if he’s about to tell you top secret information. “We aren’t delivering items from the store in the prison. We are delivering drugs.”

“Are you sure it’s drugs?” you ask, feeling slightly dizzy. There is no way in hell you can get mixed up with this business deal. If your lawyer finds out, they won’t be able to get you a non-guilty verdict. “You have to be kidding. You are kidding, right?”

Hisoka shakes his head. “I’m not joking. While you were outside with Silver, Chrollo and I had found the drugs inside one luggage, hidden inside two re-sealed potato chip bags. The drug can heal a person’s injuries within seconds.”

Why didn’t the novelist tell you that this was a drug deal and not a regular delivery? To top it off, he said that his business isn’t illegal. How is this business deal legal? You are about to hand over miracle drugs that might cost a billion jenny on the black market to an elderly woman who may or may not be using nen to mask her true age.

“How do you know what kind of drug it is? Have you taken it before?” you ask with a shaky voice.

Hisoka grabs some toilet tissue and blows his nose. “No, but I know someone who did.” He lies quickly so that you can’t find out that he had taken the drug to restore his missing limbs and burn wounds on his body. Chrollo really did a number on his body after their death match at Heaven’s Arena. “The person didn’t have any serious side effects.”

The truth is, Hisoka really didn’t have any serious side effects besides minor body aches, a headache, a fever, and fatigue. He had stayed inside his apartment until the symptoms subsided before returning to the outside world.

You get out of the tub, grab a towel from the closet, and wrap it around yourself. “We need to get rid of the drugs and return to prison. I can’t do this business at all.”

Hisoka flushes the toilet and washes his hands inside the sink. It would be wise to get rid of the drugs and return to prison but staying in the city cures his boredom. He wants to see how the situation will play out once the delivery is completed. Who knows maybe he will find a strong opponent to fight at the hotel.

“Why don’t we discuss this matter with our cellmates? I’m sure they could provide some assistance,” Hisoka suggests innocently, hoping you agree.

“Sounds good,” you say, feeling slightly uneasy because Hisoka is cooperating well.

What exactly is he planning?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like.


	17. Chapter 17

The city lights look like fireflies dancing in the sky as you stand in front of the bedroom window, thinking of a plan to escape the hotel before Silver stops by the hotel room before sunrise. There are emergency exits on the floor along with an employee elevator that leads to the basement; however, a key card is required to use it. The maids have key cards but they only stop by the hotel rooms to clean it after a guest checks out or if requested.

Checking out of the hotel room might alert Silver so the best thing to do is to request a maid. You leave the bedroom to the living room where Chrollo, Kite, Feitan, and Hisoka sit on the couch, discussing an alternative plan to escape the hotel. They stop talking once you pick up the phone and dial the front desk to request a maid, giving a lame excuse that the bed needs to be made and the toilet needs to be cleaned.

“When the maid gets here, I’ll steal the key card from them and leave with,”-you point to Feitan. “you and we will take the suitcase down to the basement. There should be a tunnel that leads to the city.”

Chrollo makes a humming. “How do you know there is a tunnel?”

You shrug. “Most hotel basements have tunnels. Don’t ask me why I know that.”

“Regardless, let’s hope the door leading to the tunnel is unlocked. If it’s locked, we will have to find another route,” Kite mentions.

“Or we can kill Silver and her bodyguards. I didn’t sense any nen from her which means the novelist hired a normal person to do his drug deal,” Feitan says in a matter of fact tone.

“All the reason why our escape plan will succeed. The only thing Silver can do is call the police but by the time they arrive, will be out of the city,” Hisoka says, looking at you. “If you are worried our plan won’t work, I can sneak into her room and kill her right now.”

You shake your head. “Leaving with no causalities is better. Maybe you guys don’t care about adding more time on your prison sentence but I do.”

“We have a life sentence, so it doesn’t really matter which plan we go with,” Feitan says rudely.

You want to knock some sense into Feitan because he isn’t comprehending what you are trying to say. If you are caught with blood on your hands, your lawyer will won’t be able to get you an early release on good behavior. The judge will definitely add more years to your prison sentence with the possibility of no parole. Staying locked up in the same prison cell with your cellmates for years will drive you mad. You have to leave prison. You have to!

“Does everyone agree to my plan?” you look around at your cellmates. Feitan shrugs, Chrollo seems preoccupied with his thoughts, Hisoka shuffles some cards, and Kite looks down at his feet as if it has answer to solve the issue. “Okay, does everyone agree with Feitan’s plan?”

Only Feitan raises his hand while your other cellmates don’t, which is strange, because you expect Hisoka or Chrollo to agree to the reckless plan. You have already expected no vote from Kite since he prefers the safe route.

“Fine, I guess I’ll leave alone,” you say, walking to the bedroom and stuffing supplies, such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, a towel, mouthwash, and hotel pajamas, into the suitcase with the drugs and leave the hotel room.

You make it halfway down the hallway when Kite calls out to you. “We never agreed on a time to leave,” Kite runs up to you and looks down at the suitcase with a perplexed expression on his face. His hair dances as air blasts on it from a vent above his head. “Are you sure there is a tunnel in the basement? What if it isn’t there?”

You bite your bottom lip and look over at the elevator as if you are expecting Silver to exit it at any moment. “I have a hunch there is one. I just need to get down there and find out if it’s locked or not.”

Kaito raises an eyebrow. “A hunch is going to get you killed.” He takes the suitcase from you. “Why don’t we go with my plan.”

“Which is?”

“Do the drug deal. Remember, Silver said even if we leave the room, we’ll return it,” he says carefully, slowly, as he stares at you. “I’m not sure why we haven’t returned yet.”

“Perhaps, it was a lie to keep us in the room,” Chrollo says from behind Kite. He walks over to you and Kite with his hands inside his pockets, calmly smiling as if nothing is wrong. “It’s a scare tactic people use to get others to do what they want. I knew from the beginning she was bluffing.”

“If you knew that, why didn’t you tell me?” you ask.

Chrollo looks past you to the elevator. “I kept quiet in order to carry out my plan.”

“Your plan?” you swallow hard. What exactly did you do?

_I killed Silver and wrapped her body up in plastic and left it in a secured place in the hotel. I should have thrown her out the window and wrote a suicide note but that’s not my style. No. I prefer a quick kill. Now that she’s out of the picture, I can explore the city for a nen ability that will help me free the other Troupe members from prison._

Crap. Crap. Now that she is gone, the drug deal can’t be completed. What the heck was he thinking? Why would he jeopardize everything for one kill? One freaking kill? Did he have to kill her? He could have tied her up and left the hotel!

Why do criminals have to mess up everything? Why?!

Kite crosses his arms. “Let me guess, you killed Silver knowing full well she wasn’t a threat.” He sighs. “I knew something was off when you returned to the hotel room last night.”

“If you knew he killed Silver, why didn’t you tell me?” you ask Kite, extremely angry. You want to punch someone or something hard until your knuckles hurt. “What do you mean she wasn’t a threat? That doesn’t give him the right to kill her.”

_Why is she upset about me killing a stranger? She didn’t know Silver at all. Humans are very interesting, especially her. She makes it seem like I slaughtered everyone on this floor. Well, I suppose if I did her reaction would be much worse._

You clench your fist as Chrollo looks at you with a calm expression on his face. How in the heck can he act so calm after admitting he killed somebody? It’s not normal but he isn’t normal and that’s something you need to remember.

“If Silver wasn’t a nen user, why hire her to do the job?” you ask Kite, trying not to become angry. Now isn’t the time to let your emotions get the best of you. “What about the drug deal? We still have to do it in order to avoid acting out the scenario written in the novelist’s notebook.”

Chrollo takes a piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to you. You are half tempted to slap his hand away but don’t. “I found this in her room. It’s a bank statement that shows someone had wired her money two days before we left prison.”

“Most likely it was the novelist,” Kite says.

Chrollo looks away from the elevator to Kite. “I’m not sure if it was him. It’s possible somebody else wired her the money.”

“Regardless, why would someone wire money before the job is finished? Usually it’s done afterward,” you say, looking at the amount transferred into her account. It’s for eighty-thousand jenny, a low price to escort prisoners from a maximum-security prison to the city. Below the wire transfer is a withdraw for the same amount that was done yesterday morning. “Did you find a bag with money in it in her room?”

Okay, Silver probably didn’t put money into a bag like they do in the movies but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

“Perhaps but that isn’t important. What’s important is that Silver isn’t a problem anymore,” Chrollo says.

You want to be extremely angry at Chrollo for killing her but you aren’t because he is a criminal who doesn’t have a problem shedding blood regardless of sex or gender. It’s a matter of time before he kills you for constantly asking questions or being in his presence. After all, he is the leader of a deadly gang with an A-class bounty, worth more than the amount paid for escorting you and your cellmates to the hotel.

You take the suitcase from Kite and walk to the elevator, breathing in hard and letting your breath out slowly to calm your nerves. It feels like an ocean wave is slamming into your chest and something is stuck in your throat as thoughts race through your mind. You want to return to prison before your lawyer discovers you are in the city; however, something about the novelist’s job bothers you.

Everything about it is off. Way off.

Your assumption is the novelist had wired money to Silver’s bank account but why send it early? And where is the money now? What if Chrollo is right? What if another person had wired money? That means two people wanted you to do the drug deal. But why?

You look for a panel on the wall next to the elevator to make sure isn’t for the employees. When you don’t see one, you press a button to call the elevator and wait for it to arrive patiently so that you can take it to the next floor and search Silver’s room.

 Even though Chrollo was in her room last night, it’s possible he overlooked somethings. Maybe there are some clues to tell you what’s going on or maybe there isn’t anything. It doesn’t hurt to look, especially if a bag of money is involved.

Kite joins you at the elevator while Chrollo returns to the room. The hallway becomes quiet and the ceiling lights above your head flickers off and on, making a clicking noise that sounds like someone is tapping a pen on glass.

“How are you doing?” Kite asks concerned.

“I’m fine. I just want this day to be over with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the long wait. I've been busy with graduate school and work. Now that I have some time to write again, I will try to update more. Thank you for leaving comments and kudos.


	18. Chapter 18

You arrive at Silver’s room to find it unlocked and cleaned inside as if it’s been vacant for days. The bed is made, the floor has been vacuumed, and there are some chocolate bars on the dresser next to a folded piece of paper that has the hotel’s logo on it. You unfold the paper to see if anything is written inside but it’s blank.

Kite searches the bedroom while you search the living room and bathroom for a bag of money, if there is one, frantically while holding your breath, hoping a maid doesn’t enter the room. When you don’t find anything, you go to the bedroom.

Kite closes the closet door and looks at you, sighing a little. “I didn’t find anything. Either Chrollo took the bag of money or Silver put the money into another bank account.”

“Mostly Chrollo took the money,” you say, slightly irritated.

“It’s possible since he is a thief. I wouldn’t be surprised if he manages to deposit the money into his bank account before we return to prison,” he says.

“What’s the point in depositing it into his bank account if he never spends any money. I’ve never seen him buy anything.”

He makes a humming noise. “I haven’t either but that doesn’t stop him from keeping the money.”

“Again, why keep the money if he never spends it?”  

“Why don’t you ask him.”

“He won’t tell me the truth. You know how he is.”

He lifts up the blanket off the bed and looks underneath it. “He isn’t Hisoka. If you ask him a question, you will definitely get a dishonest answer.”

“I know but I have a feeling Chrollo is the same way. He only talks to the Troupe members and when I try asking him a question, he takes forever to answer it. Well, he takes forever sometimes. It really depends on what I’m trying to ask him.”

“If you don’t try you won’t ever find out. Technically, he didn’t lie about killing Silver,” he says.

You clench your fists. “Technically, he did because he never actually admitted to it. What gives him the right to kill her? I don’t understand him. He kills the very person we need to get out of this crappy situation.”

“I’m sure he had a reason.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Oh, what reason is that? I’m sure he doesn’t have a legit reason just like keeping money he won’t ever spend.”

He places his hand on your shoulder. “It’s understandable to be angry at him for what he did but I’m no better. If I were in his shoes and thought she was a threat, I would have killed her to protect everyone.”

Chrollo wouldn’t kill Silver to protect everyone, or would he? Enemies who are a threat to the Troupe are killed but she didn’t have a nen ability nor was threatening to kill Feitan, who is the only Troupe member here. Well, there is Hisoka but he isn’t a Troupe member anymore.

_I don’t agree with everything Chrollo does but in this case, I believe he killed Silver to protect everyone. I would have done the same thing. She doesn’t see it that way, which is fine, but I hope she understands that somethings need to be done in order to protect the people we care about._

You look away from him, growing hot a little, to look for something to fiddle with it while thinking about what he said. It isn’t possible for your cellmates to care about that they would kill to protect you. Things like that only happen in fairy tales, in which some annoying prince slays a dragon to save a bratty princess. Your cellmates are definitely no prince, gorgeous yes, but a hero who saves the day is out of the question.

You pick up a pen off the nightstand next to the bed and click it several times to calm your nerves. He looks underneath the bed one last time before entering the living room. You follow behind him, continuing to click the pen several times until your thumb hurts.

“We should probably head back to the room before…” he trails off when he hears footsteps and voices in the hallway. He moves away from the door and stands in front of you. “Don’t say anything.”

Your heart pounds rapidly against your chest as the footsteps move toward the hotel room. Somebody tells the other people to stop walking while another, yells something in a foreign language. One person, who has a low yet shaky voice, tells somebody to get ready to kick the door down.

Kite grabs your hand and quickly takes you to the bedroom, locking the door as soon as it shuts. Your vision blurs a little and breathing becomes harder as an anxiety attack engulfs you like smoke in a burning building. You sit down on the edge of the bed, close your eyes and do some breathing exercises to prevent the anxiety attack from escalating.

“Are you okay?” he asks, rubbing your back gently. You nod your head and wipe some sweat off your forehead. “If you can’t move, I don’t have a problem carrying you out of the room.”

You look away from him quickly, feeling embarrassed. “I’m fine. I just needed to catch my breath.”

“Okay,” he looks around the room for an air vent big enough to fit in and finds one next to the dresser. It’s missing screws and there is a piece of tap above it. He takes the tape off the wall and looks at you. “We can escape throu…”

You interrupt him quickly. “I’m not going to run away or hide. I want to return to prison and serve the rest of my sentence.”

_If that’s the case, why is she about to have an anxiety attack? Is she afraid the people in the hallway will take her to a different prison? Regardless, I have a feeling the people in the hallway aren’t police officers._

“I understand but the people in the hallway may not be the police. I can’t protect you from all of them if we stay here.”

“I don’t need your protection. I know how to defend myself.”

He takes the gate off the air vent and sets it on the floor. “Once we leave the hotel, I’ll go to the police station with you and turn myself in.”

You hesitate to move off the bed because he might be wrong. It’s possible there are police officers in the hallway but how did they know you are in the hotel room? Who called them? Silver is dead, so it’s impossible for her to do it. Did the novelist do it? Or was it the other person who had paid her?

“What’s the difference between turning ourselves in now or later? Either way, we return to prison and don’t have to worry about doing this ridiculous drug deal.”

“The police officers in the hallway…” he trails off when the sound of the front door crashes to the floor and footsteps storm into the living room, followed by voices and something making a clicking noise.

_Darn it! I thought we had more time to escape but it looks like we’ll have to hide in order to observe the enemy. If we stay out in the open, they might kill us before asking questions._

He rushes over to you, grabs your arm, and guides you to the closet. Once inside, he locks the door and wraps his arms around you. “If we aren’t going to run, we should hide and observe our enemy.”

The smell of oranges drifts from his clothes as your face rests against his muscular chest. You didn’t realize he works out like your other cellmates, not that you intentionally stare at their body when they undress or in the shower, but it’s interesting to know staying in shape is important to him. Staying in shape is not a top priority for you; however, eating semi healthy is.

“Are you sure, they aren’t police officers?” you whisper, keeping your arms to your side. You could embrace him but it would be awkward. Really awkward. “Do you think it’s the client we are supposed to give the drugs too?”

He holds you closer. “I don’t know. The only thing we can do is listen to their conversation.”

The minute the word listen rolls off his tongue, an idea pops into your mind. You close your eyes and try to listen to the enemies’ thoughts for any crucial information that will tell you who they are and who they work for. The only problem is, thoughts can’t be heard if the person is faraway. They have to be in the same room otherwise, you won’t hear anything.

Listening to people’s thoughts is a great gift but it has its drawbacks. You want to tell Kite about it but it’s better to keep it a secret. Some things should never be revealed even if it ruins a relationship. You remember your parents telling you to never tell anyone regardless if they are honest. Honestly can easily turn into betrayal. At least that’s what your father nailed into your brain.

Even though the people are in the living room, you still try to listen to their thoughts to see if there is an error in your theory about the person having to be in the same room in order to hear anything. Nothing comes in at first but than you hear several thoughts at the same time. Some are spoken in a foreign language while some aren’t; however, nothing is heard clearly.

You continue listening carefully, hoping one thought is clear and after a few minutes, one comes in clear at the same time the window in the bedroom is broken and the sound of glass shattering and someone jumping into the room is heard. They push something heavy across the floor, most likely the dresser, and open the door. Footsteps march into the room like soldiers during a parade and stop suddenly when somebody says something.

“All right everyone, once we have apprehended the targets, we will bring them to the police station, collect our reward, and leave to find our next targets. Does anyone have any questions?” a female voice with a country accent says loudly.

“Ma’am, how much is the reward per target again?” a deep male voice asks.

_Two billion jenny per target but I’m not going to tell him that. I’ll take majority of the cut and leave to catch the next targets. I’ll have to make sure they don’t kill the targets, otherwise, I can’t collect my reward._

Crap. It makes sense for the police to issue a warrant for your arrest for escaping a maximum-security prison. There must be a lot of people searching the city right now for you and your cellmates because of the large reward. If Silver had turned you in, she would have ten billion and eighty-thousand jenny in her bank account.

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is catching them,” the female says, ignoring her comrade’s question.

“In a few seconds, I want everyone to look everywhere for the targets. I know they are hiding somewhere in the room. As soon as you find them, cuff them and bring them to me. I’ll be waiting in the hallway,” another female voice says sternly.

_I’m not sure why my boss teamed me up with a bunch of rookie bounty hunters. There leader seems extremely sketchy. I know she is up to something since she didn’t even bother telling her teammates how much the reward is for each target. I’ll have to keep an eye on her until the targets return to prison._

Even though she hates working with bounty hunters, at least she is aware their leader is a sketchy asshole. You want to jump out of the closet and tell the bounty hunters much your reward is to piss her off their leader but it’s not worth it. Some people should never be a leader. It’s always the asshats who lead a team to victory.

You finally embrace Kite as footsteps move around the room and objects slam on the floor. They are destroying the room to find you for some reason instead of simply looking in the bathroom or the closet. You expect this behavior from a gang member, for example the Phantom Troupe, and not from people who supposedly uphold the law.  

What kind of bounty hunters are they?

“It figures the police would put a bounty on our head since technically, the novelist’s job is off books. Only a couple of guards knew about us leaving the prison but they could easily play dumb in order to keep their job,” he whispers. “We are definitely going to the hole after this.”

You shrug. “Does it matter? To be honest, I’ll gladly sleep in the hole for a month instead of doing a drug deal. I don’t want more years added to my prison sentence.”

“I don’t either but it might happen.”

You clench and unclench your jaw thinking about whether the judge will add more years to your prison sentence. If they did, how many years? One or twenty years? Well, twenty years seems excessive but it’s possible depending on what they charge you with.

_We checked everywhere except for the closet. That’s the only place they could be hiding. If they aren’t in there, I can’t go back to that annoying police officer empty handed. She will chew my head off for failing this mission. I’ll find them at any cost._

“Pots, check the closet,” their leader yells.

“Yes, ma’am,” the person name Pots says. Their footsteps approach the door and you start sweating a little. “On the count of three.”

“Just open the door!” their leader screams.

What in the world is wrong with their leader? Sure, she hates the police officer but that doesn’t give her the right to treat her team like crap. What crawled up her ass and died?

“Screw this,” you move away from Kite and open up the door. Every bounty hunter aims their gun at the closet and waits for you to come out. When you do, the leader rushes over and slams you against the wall and puts cuffs on your wrist. “You could have told me to turn around nicely. Nice to meet you too.”

“Shut up! You aren’t allowed to speak unless I say so!” she yells, pushing you toward a male bounty hunter who has shaggy hair and a large mustache. He places his hand on your shoulder and proceeds to escort you to the front door when the leader calls after him. “If she tries to escape, shoot her with a tranquilizer.”

You get one good look at the leader before the bounty hunter says something. Her face isn’t cute but she isn’t ugly. She looks plain and has short curly hair, wears glasses, and has a small scratch on her chin. She looks up and down at your attire as if she is judging you for a fashion show before looking away. If you weren’t handcuffed, you would claw her eyes out.

“Yes, ma’am,” he says, before taking you to the hallway where you meet a police officer who looks extremely tired. She has long hair, sleeping bags underneath her eyes, and wears a police uniform and polished leather shoes. “Officer Troy, I’ve brought you the target. Should I take her downstairs?”

Officer Troy stares at you, curling her bottom lip as if you are the scum of the earth. “No, I want her to stay here. Take the other one downstairs.” She places her hand on your shoulder and squeezes it hard. “After all, we can’t have a female around a bunch of males. Who knows what will happen.”

You want to punch her in the face for thinking you are loose. Just because a female is around a lot of men doesn’t mean sex will happen. Why do people always assume you are a slut when you are least likely to initiate sex? It’s not that you hate sex, you much rather wait for the right person.

Is it wrong to have morals like that?

Gee whiz.

Officer Troy escorts you to the elevator and waits for it to arrive. You don’t say anything and wait to hear her thoughts, hoping she will think about why she decided to leave instead of staying on the floor. Didn’t she just tell the bounty hunter she wasn’t going to leave and now she is leaving? What is going on?

The elevator arrives and she shoves you inside of it and presses a button to go to the lobby. The elevator moves down slowly, making a chiming noise every time it passes a floor, not once stopping as if every floor is vacant. When it reaches the lobby, the smell of food fills your nostrils as she guides you, more like drags, to the front door.

You see a group of people standing in the corner of the room chatting as a server puts plates of food on top of a table. There are balloons everywhere and music blasts in the air. Officer Troy shoves you toward the entrance so hard that almost trip. Outside, more police officers, who look irritated, meet you.

“Take her to the van and don’t leave until I tell you,” Officer Troy says.

One police offer who is bald, wearing sunglasses, speaks quickly. “I’m sorry ma’am, but we’ve been given orders to take them back to prison.”

“By who?” Officer Troy asks rudely.

The police officer moves you over to him. “I’m not allowed to say. If you have any questions, speak to your boss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this story. Please leave a kudo or comment if you like.


	19. Chapter 19

The trip back to the prison was long yet extremely quiet and relaxing since you rode in the back of the police car alone, your cellmates rode in a different car, and the police officers didn’t speak to you. The police officer who had driven the car kept messing with the radio stations, grunting whenever rock music blasted from the speakers while the other police officer read a book.

When you arrive at the prison, the police officers check you in and leave without saying anything, not that you had expected them too, and a guard, who you never seen before, escorts you to a room down the hallway from the warden’s office.

The room smells like mint candy grandparents give their grandchildren before a family dinner and the walls have some stains on them. One looks like blood while another looks like soup. There is a table in the middle with two chairs near it, a speaker on the wall, a trashcan in the corner, and a large glass window that has a view of the ocean floor. Fish and other sea animals swim past the window slowly like traffic on a street.

“Sit down and wait here,” the guard says, before leaving.

You sit down in a chair and look outside the window at the fish scurrying in the water toward an unknown destination and remember owning fish as a child. Your mother had bought fish from a pet store in a rich neighborhood and claimed they were around a million jenny but it turned out they were ten jenny. Your mother had a bad habit of lying but sometimes she told the truth. Just sometimes. And when she did, it soothed your aching heart and brought tears to your eyes.

A few minutes later, the door opens and Officer Troy and two guards walk into the room. She chews on bubblegum and has a tablet in her hand. One guard, who has a mohawk, shuts the door while the other guard, who has microbraids, stands in the corner. She sits down on a chair on the other side of the table and turns on the tablet.

“You’re probably wondering what is going on, aren’t you?” she asks, without making eye contact as waits for the tablet to boot up. Once it does, she swipes her finger across the screen quickly. “Don’t worry, this won’t take out.”

“Am I being charged with something? Because if I’m not, I’m requesting to return to my prison cell or a least go to the hole,” you say carefully, eyeing her.

She looks up at you, smirking. “Everything you say is currently being listened to. The warden has a very special place picked out for you and your cellmates.” She presses a button on the side of the tablet, the screen goes black. “I’m sure you will love the place since you are aching to go there.”

“I want to go to the hole by myself. I don’t care if I stay in it for one or two months,” you say loudly, hoping the warden hears it. “So, I ask again, what are my crimes?”

She leans back against the chair and crosses her arms. “Are you really going to play stupid? You know what your guilty of.”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you,” you cross your leg underneath the table to prevent yourself from tapping both feet on the floor because you have to use the bathroom. She notices your movement and raises an eyebrow. “Yes, it’s true I left the prison but it’s not what you think.”

“Tell me what happened.”

You swallow hard. “I’m not sure you will believe me.”

“I’m more likely to believe you than the warden,” she says sternly.

You swallow hard again. “I see.” She presses a button on the side of the tablet and swipes her finger across the screen. “If I told you that a prisoner forced us to leave to do a drug deal, would you believe me?”

“It depends on who asked you to do the drug deal,” she says, continuing to swipe her finger across the screen. Her eyes light up like Christmas lights when she sees something interesting. “Here we go.” She places the tablet on the table and pushes it toward you gently. There is a picture of the novelist wearing normal clothes next to a woman who looks like Silver. Maybe it is Silver. “Do you recognize them?”

If you tell her yes, what will happen? Different scenarios race through your mind as she stares at you patiently, waiting for an answer. The man in the picture is definitely the novelist but who is the woman? Is it possible Silver has a twin sister? It definitely looks like her but something seems off. Maybe it’s the mole underneath her left eye that’s confusing you.

“Well? Do you recognize them?” she repeats her question.

“I do but…”

“But what? Did this man ask you to do a drug deal or not?” she asks.

You nod your head slowly. “He did but I didn’t have a choice, I mean, we didn’t have a choice.”

She swipes her finger across the screen and types in something. “Why did he want you to do the drug deal?”

“It’s complicated,” you reply quickly, looking away from her to the window.

“Complicated or you don’t want to tell me?”

“Both,” you accidentally say.

“How is it both? Why are you protecting your cellmates?”

“I’m not protecting them,” you say, looking away from her to the window. A large colorful fish swims past. “I just don’t think you would believe me so there is no point in explaining the situation.”

She slams her hand on the table so hard, a cracking noise is heard underneath. You think the table is going to fall apart at any moment as she clenches and unclenches her jaw, leaning forward a little, casting a shadow on the tablet.

“Listen, if you continue to hide the truth, there is no telling what the warden will say to your lawyer to keep you imprisoned here longer. I know you aren’t supposed to be in an all-male prison, let alone prison in general. I can help you get an early release but only if you cooperate,” she says angry yet words seem sincere.

 Can she really help you get an early release? Is it possible or is she lying in order to get you tell her the truth?

“How do I know you aren’t lying?” you ask, looking back at her.

 “How do I know you are telling me the truth?”

You sigh. “I have nothing to hide. I didn’t kill anyone nor did I volunteer to do a drug deal. I was force, I mean, we were forced to do it by the man in the picture. He has a powerful nen ability that allows him to control people.” She nods her head as she types something in the tablet quickly. When she stops typing, you continue. “I don’t have proof but I believe the man is connected to a prisoner’s death.”

“Are you talking about the prisoner name Bell?”

Your eyes light up. “Yeah, how do you know about him?”

“I did my research,” she says smugly. “Why do you think he is connected to Bell’s death?”

“I don’t know but I have a hunch that he is,” you say, looking back at the window to see if more fish are swimming past. Watching them swim calms your nerves.

She turns off the tablet and stands up. “That’s it for my questions.” She looks over at the guard standing in corner. “Take her to her prison cell.”

“Wait, aren’t you going to ask me more questions?”

“I got everything I need,” she says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. I have a break coming up from graduate school so I'll be writing more and trying to post as much as possible.


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